Mission Accomplished

My parents and grandparents have been in town visiting this week from Indiana (which is why I haven't posted very much this week). We have talked a lot of politics, and I am happy to report that I think we are 4-for-4. My grandfather is the ultimate swing voter (Bush 41, Clinton both times, Bush the second [?] time, etc.) He said last night that he was most likely voting for Obama. My parents and grandmother (all three working class labor Clinton supporters) and finally in the Obama camp for November, too.

This ties in to the two most recent state polls I have seen-- the round of June 18th polls in Florida indicates Obama and McCain tied at 45% each. This is a HUGE turnaround for Obama, who at the time of the last round of polls was trailing by 10% or more. The other interesting one is Georgia, which is showing that Obama has cut McCain's once sizable lead to a single point. A June 12th poll has Obama up by two in Virginia and four in Ohio. Of course, polls are polls-- my point is only in showing that many traditional swing voters and former Clinton supporters seem to be getting behind Obama.

If you haven't checked it out already, the site electoral-vote.com does a nice job of tracking all of the state polls and updating daily the projected electoral college (as of today, 317 Obama and 194 McCain with 27 votes tied [Florida]). It is run by a computer science professor living abroad. I followed his site throughout the 2004 election, and now he has information on hot House races as well as all Senate races.

Polls are polls, and are to be taken with a grain of salt, but 317-194 is a great way to wake up in the morning.