Morning Roundup-Stay Calm

The polls are tightening but Nate assures us that Obama still has about an 8 point lead and that he should expect a post-debate bump in a few days. Gallup is only showing a 2 point lead, a poll of polls from CNN shows an overall 6 point lead (but with the main message being Obama drops in the polls. 2 points!). Regardless, the electoral map is still solidly weighted towards Obama. Plus Politico has a poll showing Obama way ahead in key counties in swing states. Stay cool, my friends.

Luckily for McCain's campaign continues to be completely mismanaged. He's still spending money in Iowa for pete's sake. Stepping up his hate campaign, McCain unleashes a series of robocalls rehashing all the old lies about Ayers and Obama killing babies--I really think this is going to continue to turn people off. Plus he may be violating some state laws. Sweet! (If you want to listen to the calls, go here.

Oh and there's also so desperate they're harrassing voters! Where my people live in Charlotte!

Posted on Sullivan's blog

"I live in Charlotte NC, where today is the first day of early voting. I drove by two polling places before 8 this morning and they were both completely mobbed. My husband has driven to two others in his attempt to vote today, and the scene has been so ridiculous that he has given up and will try again next week. At two of the spots where he tried to vote, he witnessed and was approached by two exceedingly aggressive McCain/Palin volunteers who were pulling people out of line, handing out brochures, and telling them "You really need to think carefully about your vote. If you plan to vote Obama, we would ask that you read this material and reconsider your vote."

Kos picked up this quote from a really long (10 pages!) article in the NYT a few days ago. It's amazing how Barack can go after Fox News without letting the mud splatter on himself. It's all kind of matter-of-fact but with a dash of real concern thrown in. It blows my mind when I dare think about the greatness that could lie in an Obama presidency:

"I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls," Obama told me. "If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me, right? Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?

"I guess the point I’m making," he went on, "is that there is an entire industry now, an entire apparatus, designed to perpetuate this cultural schism, and it’s powerful. People want to know that you’re fighting for them, that you get them. And I actually think I do. But you know, if people are just seeing me in sound bites, they’re not going to discover that. That’s why I say that some of that may have to happen after the election, when they get to know you."

This is no surprise but it still made my heart pound louder in my chest. WaPo endorses Obama for President.:

"But Mr. Obama's temperament is unlike anything we've seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment. "