Stating the obvious: it’s the States…
As we sail into the final innings of the seemingly-endless Presidential campaign, and we find ourselves awash in national polls that show McCain nosing ahead of Obama, or vice versa, it’s helpful to consult Electoral-Vote.com, a daily-updated compilation of state-by-state polls, with a tally of the electoral college implications of those results. The site also has similarly helpful accounts of Senate and House races– and a cautionary explanation of the polling used that’s both witty and illuminating.
As of September 15, e.g., the race looked like this:
Tote it up and see that, to the extent that the polls are to be believed, had the election had been held that day, McCain would have prevailed over Obama 270 electoral votes to 268… but then, there are almost two month left to go…
As we head for the hustings, we might recall that it was on this date in 1630 that Puritan settlers founded Boston on the Shawmut peninsula in Massachusetts.