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If McCain does win, it will be despite some steep odds. The Republican National Committee has pulled its ads from the state, to focus them elsewhere. And in some key local races, endorsements are going to Democrats.. And in some key local races, endorsements are going to Democrats. This is especially a concern in parts of the Fox Valley, where Democratic Congressman Steve Kagan won the endorsement of the NRA — both he and his opponent, John Gard, had received “A” grades from that organization. In a traditionally conservative area, a downticket endorsement from a conservative organization could have a...

Barack Obama's campaign website is recommending that voters remain registered in battleground states even though they may not be living there on Nov. 4. The Republican National Committee (RNC) is raising questions about how Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) campaign is urging its supporters to vote in purple states despite living in red or blue states this fall. An RNC official said it is unclear whether that practice is illegal but argued that it is “out of compliance with the spirit of the law.” However, Columbia University law professor and election law expert Nathaniel Persily stated that “there is no problem” with...

I just spoke to some McCain campaign sources up in Minnesota and they pretty much confirmed what the polls have been telling us for a while — Minnesota really is in play for McCain. Of course, you could simply dismiss that as McCain spin, but even Obama surrogate Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged today on the stump in Iowa that the state was awfully close. Still, though my McCain sources made some interesting observations about what's they're seeing in Minnesota: * McCain has been surprisingly strong in the urban Twin Cities area. They think the convention presence was a big...

Much of Barack Obama’s 12-point lead over John McCain has disappeared in Minnesota. He is now ahead of his Republican rival by only four percentage points 46% to 42%, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Minnesota voters. With “leaners” factored in, Obama leads 49% to 45% (Demographic Crosstabs available for Premium Members.) Last month the Democrat had a 49% to 37% lead on McCain. In June he was ahead 52% to 39%. McCain is now supported by 91% of Republicans, up from 79% a month ago. Obama earns the vote from 89% of Democrats, down two points...

New poll numbers show Barack Obama’s lead over Johon McCain slipping among Minnesota voters. The exclusive 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS/SURVEY USA Poll shows Obama holding a one-point lead over McCain, with the margin of error at a statistical dead heat Tuesday. Just two weeks ago, Obama held a five-point lead in Minnesota. Nationally, it’s a slightly different story: A new ABC News poll has Obama ahead of McCain 48 to 42-percent. Obama’s lead is down a percentage point from one month ago.

Wisconsin has been agonizingly close in recent Presidential elections and current polling data suggests it’s likely to be a very competitive state again in November 2008. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Wisconsin shows Barack Obama earning 45% of the vote while John McCain attracts support from 43%. This is the third time in four Rasmussen Reports polls that the candidates have been within two percentage points of each other. All four polls have shown the gap between the candidates smaller than the margin of error (+/- 4.5 percentage points). In two of the four polls, Obama has held...

The balance of party identification in the American electorate now favors the Democratic Party by a decidedly larger margin than in either of the two previous presidential election cycles. In 5,566 interviews with registered voters conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press during the first two months of 2008, 36% identify themselves as Democrats, and just 27% as Republicans. The share of voters who call themselves Republicans has declined by six points since 2004, and represents, on an annualized basis, the lowest percentage of self-identified Republican voters in 16 years of polling by the Center.

BARACK OBAMA hopes to wrap up the Democratic nomination next week, as the three last primaries, combined with an expected slew of superdelegate announcements, carry him over the threshold of victory. Already, his team is focusing on winning the White House. With an electorate sick of war, costly petrol and George Bush, the odds favour him. Intrade, a betting site, puts his chances at 58%. If he (or, should a miracle occur, Mrs Clinton) stumbles, however, it may be because the electoral college has worked against the Democrats. With five months of campaigning still ahead, all predictions should be taken...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Ohio shows a toss-up between John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain attracts support from 45% of the Buckeye State’s Likely Voters while Obama earns support from 44%. Nationally, the race between McCain and Obama is also very competitive in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll in Michigan shows McCain attracting 45% of the vote while Barack Obama earns 44%. Six percent (6%) say they would vote for a third-party candidate and 5% remain undecided. Those results are similar to a late-March survey that also showed McCain with a statistically insignificant one-point advantage. In February, McCain had a three-point lead.

Washington - If you ranked all of the TV markets in "blue-state" America according to how much advertising they saw from the 2004 Bush campaign and its allies, the list would begin like this: Milwaukee. Green Bay. Wausau. Pittsburgh, Pa. Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pa. Madison. La Crosse-Eau Claire. That pretty much says it all about Wisconsin's place on the electoral map. Few blue states are fatter targets for Republicans.That was true for George W. Bush, who lost the state twice by an average of three-tenths of a percentage point. And it will be true again for John McCain, now busy crafting...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's top aides yesterday accused Sen. Barack Obama of ignoring West Virginia, saying Democrats must win the state in the fall and using her 43-point poll lead there as evidence that her longshot bid deserves to run its course. "What is the basis for the so-called 'presumptive nominee' not competing in a state that would be a key swing state?" Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson asked reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, adding that a Tuesday victory could be a turning point for his boss. A 15-point win for Mrs. Clinton, "in an atmosphere in which...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Wisconsin shows John McCain holding identical leads over both potential democratic candidates. McCain tops both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama by a 47% to 43% margin. In late March, McCain and Obama were in a toss-up Clinton trailed the GOP hopeful by eleven points. McCain enjoys double-digit leads over both candidates among men, but trails both candidates among women in the Badger State. The GOP candidate also leads both candidates by double-digits among voters not affiliated with either major political party. Nationally, while the fundamentals of Election 2008 favor the Democrats, McCain remains...

Hillary Clinton kept her hopes for winning the Democratic Presidential nomination alive with a big win in the Ohio Primary just over a week ago. But, the first general election poll conducted since that Primary shows John McCain has gained ground in the Buckeye State. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Ohio shows John McCain leading both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama by identical 46% to 40% margins. In the last poll conducted before the hard fought Democratic Primary, McCain had a statistically insignificant one-point lead over Obama and a three-point edge over Clinton. McCain leads Clinton by twenty-one...

McCain Turns Purple States Red?   By Floyd and Mary Beth BrownFrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, March 07, 2008 Much of the current analysis of the presidential campaign battle is missing the point. All of the media attention is focused on the Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama heavyweight fight as if it will decide the election. But it seems observers in Washington, D.C. haven’t yet sensed the undercurrent running in the country, which for the first time in four years has turned and is running the Republican’s direction. The election map is changing. And with the changes, it will offer a...

McCain's Fate Rests Upon A New Gang of 14 by Martha Zoller With Senator John McCain becoming apparent winner of the Republican nomination for President, we should begin looking at the electoral map shaping up for the November general election. Remember McCain's "Gang of 14," that loose group of 14 "swing" Senators of varying political stripes put together by McCain to break the deadlock on President Bush's judicial nominees? The Gang enabled Justices Alito and Roberts to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, but also abandoned of many other good conservatives for other appointments. Now McCain faces a new “Gang...

Barack Obama and John McCain are essentially tied in the contest to win Wisconsin’s ten Electoral College votes in November. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Obama attracting 44% of the vote while McCain picks up 43%. Eight percent (8%) say they would vote for some other candidate while 4% are not sure. If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, McCain has a twelve point lead, 50% to 38%.

by Antenna Wilde As the GOP struggles to find it's "voice", the nation seems to have run off with Obama. Looking over the charts and numbers, I find it increasing difficult to come to any other conclusion. Not only is he mopping up the blue states, he seems to be doing as well—if not better—in the red ones. Take Idaho: huge victory for the GOP in 2004 (Bush won the state with 69%). And here's Obama sweeping Idaho on Super Tuesday with a stunning 80%... to Hillary Clinton's 17. While all of Hillary victories (except Arkansas) have been in the...

That question aside, Ohio remains the center of attention. The 2006 midterm elections saw it swing forcefully to the Democratic side. The Republican secretary of state, who was regarded as a major player in suppression of Democratic votes in 2004, ran for governor and was trounced. Democrats further elected a senator and a new secretary of state -- who now controls the electoral process. All indicators are that Ohio's 20 electoral votes will go Democratic this November, totally changing the equation: If all other states remain the same as in 2004, the Democrat would win 272 electoral votes and the...

The College Republicans at Central Michigan University introduced their concept for a "Turn Michigan Red in '08" t-shirt in April of 2007, both as a fundraiser for their origanization and in an effort to show Republican unity heading into the 2008 elections. In the last few years, Central Michigan University has hosted liberal speakers such as Michael Moore, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Thomas Hayden and Wes Clark. There have been no high profile conservative speakers brought to campus in recent history.

In just over a month, the first round of presidential decision-making will kick off with the 2008 Iowa caucuses. Yet, despite the early state focus, several Republican front-runners already are directing their attention to the Evergreen State, which they believe could be competitive next year. Surprising, isn't it? Washington has not gone to a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984, and the state boasts two Democratic senators, six Democratic members of Congress, a Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled Legislature. Of course, Washington has elected Republicans from outside the conservative mainstream, such as Sens. Slade Gorton and Dan Evans (who also...

In Tuesday's off-year elections, Democrats continued to gather steam in Virginia and Kentucky--making it even more obvious that these two Southern states are up for grabs in 2008. Kentucky's Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher, hand-picked for the job by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2003, did not merely lose his re-election bid to Democrat Steve Beshear--he got pummeled, obliterated and all-around embarrassed by a "has-been" candidate who'd dropped out of politics a decade ago after losing races for governor and Senate. Beshear won almost 60 percent of the vote. Much of Fletcher's trouble was Fletcher himself--he ran in 2003...

Republicans need all the votes they can get next November if they are to have any hope of retaining the White House and winning back control of Congress. But one group of voters – among whom the GOP has gained considerable ground over the last few elections – now seems about to slip away, perhaps permanently. Hispanic voters are poised to turn several red states blue come 2008, virtually guaranteeing a Democratic presidential victory and a pickup in congressional seats as well, according to a new analysis of Hispanic voting behavior. "Border Wars: The Impact of Immigration on the Latino...

A funny thing happened in red-state Nevada over the past year. It turned blue. An analysis of voter registration reports over the past 12 months shows many more new voters are registering as Democrats — enough to tilt Nevada to a considerable Democratic majority for the first time since the 1992 presidential election. Back then, Nevada was a solid blue state. Registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by 7 percentage points, and the state voted for Bill Clinton. Today, the unpopular Iraq war and enthusiasm for the Democratic presidential caucuses are playing major roles in giving Nevada Democrats their first significant...

Dan Walters: Voter data suggest California may be more purple than blueBy Dan Walters -- Bee Columnist Published 2:15 am PST Monday, February 6, 2006 The conventional wisdom these days is that California is a solidly blue state - based on Democrats' near-sweep of major political contests over the last decade and especially George W. Bush's two million-plus-vote losses in the state. More accurately, however, California is a purple state, as new voter registration data indicate. California's 15.8 million registered voters now divide themselves into 6.7 million Democrats (42.68 percent), 5.9 million Republicans (34.68 percent), 2.9 million independents (18.8 percent)...

Deep-blue New York could become a red state in the 2008 presidential election, a new poll reveals. The state voted for President Bush over Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 election, 58 percent to 41 percent. But if the 2008 election were held today, New Yorkers said they would vote for former New York City Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani over Kerry, 49 percent to 42 percent, with the rest uncertain, according to the Fox News Poll. Giuliani also had a 2-percentage-point edge over the state’s own Democratic senator, Hillary Clinton. Even Sen. John McCain beat out Sen. Clinton in the...

While Sen. Hillary Clinton (search) easily tops several Republican opponents in hypothetical 2006 U.S. Senate match-ups, New York voters are fairly evenly divided when it comes to possible 2008 presidential candidates, according to a FOX News Poll.

"Meanwhile, a multiagency voter-fraud probe was announced last Wednesday by District Attorney Michael McCann, U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, the FBI and the Milwaukee police. Government investigators are responding to mounting evidence — an extensive analysis of the November balloting recently published by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, most notably — that many thousands of unlawful votes were likely cast in Wisconsin's largest (and heavily Democratic) city.

Three weeks after the general election, New Mexico's canvassing board officially declared President Bush the winner by 5,988 votes, or less than 1 percentage point. The board certified the Nov. 2 election results Tuesday and said Bush received 376,930 votes, or 49.8 percent, to Democrat John Kerry's 370,942 votes, or 49 percent. Independent Ralph Nader received 4,053 votes, or 0.5 percent. Four years ago, Democrat Al Gore defeated Bush in New Mexico by just 366 votes out of 598,605 cast. Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement that he would propose changes to state election law to speed up vote...

The final piece in the U.S. election puzzle fell into place on Tuesday when New Mexico became the last state to determine a winner in the Nov. 2 presidential poll, saying George W. Bush won the sparsely populated state. In its official tally released on Tuesday, Republican Bush beat Democratic challenger John Kerry by 5,988 votes, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said. The final tally was 376,930 for Bush and 370,942 for Kerry.

Des Moines, IA, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Iowa's final tally shows President Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry by 10,059 votes, the Des Moines Register reported Wednesday

Here are final unofficial vote tallies, released Friday afternoon. President, Bernalillo County John Kerry: 132,404 George W. Bush: 121,610 Ralph Nader: 1,462 President, statewide: John Kerry: 370,457 George W. Bush: 376,577 Ralph Nader: 4,059 Source: Bernalillo County Clerk's Office, The Associated Press

Today is the deadline for counties to complete their canvass of last week's election, and the clerk of the most populous county in the state aims to meet that deadline. "I'm optimistic," Clerk Mary Herrera said. "If I have to be here 24 hours a day by myself entering (data), I'm going to do it." About 85 percent of the canvassing process was completed as of Thursday afternoon, county officials estimated. The hand tally of provisional ballots was expected to be done by this morning. Other remaining work included data entry and running reports on election results. The county canvassing...

IN 2000, the polls had Bush winning the popular vote. He went on to lose it by more than 3.5 million votes. In 2004, pollsters on election eve said the race was "too close to call." The next day, exit polls predicted a comfortable Kerry victory. Then on election night, the Bush-Kerry national popular vote split turned out to be no squeaker, but 51 percent to 48 percent. So are the pollsters all wet?No, just damp. Both in 2000 and in 2004, most polls, including exit polls, were correct within their margins of error. But let's all finally understand just...

Election results by state On election night and in the days since then, we have seen many maps that look like this: The (contiguous 48) states of the country are colored red or blue to indicate whether a majority of their voters voted for the Republican candidate (George W. Bush) or the Democratic candidate (John F. Kerry) respectively. The map gives the superficial impression that the "red states" dominate the country, since they cover far more area than the blue ones. However, as pointed out by many others, this is misleading because it fails to take into account the fact...

If New Mexico is leaning red, it's not because the state is any closer to declaring a presidential winner. It's because some New Mexicans are embarrassed about how long it's taking to get the votes counted. Again. "It's embarrassing to know this state has not been able to count all it's votes," said Tom Torres of Edgewood. "It's not like this is a surprise. We saw it last election." In the 2000 election, it took about a month for the state to determine that Al Gore had defeated President George W. Bush by 366 votes. Election officials said they are...

Northern New Mexico's counties with large percentages of Hispanic voters remain a firm Democratic stronghold, last week's presidential election results show— but at least two northern counties didn't deliver as well for John Kerry as expected. Republican George W. Bush improved his numbers over those of the 2000 election in both Rio Arriba and Guadalupe counties, contributing to a lead of about 8,500 votes... in New Mexico's still-incomplete vote tally. Kerry's share of the vote in Rio Arriba— where more than 70 percent of the population and 80 percent of registered voters are Hispanic— was the smallest for a Democrat...

I've heard that the final absentee vote tally in Wisconsin might give President Bush a win in that state. Anybody have any factual information to share? If President Bush did in fact win Wisconsin, wouldn't it mean that he would have won without Ohio? Curious minds need to know. Thanks...

Linda Vester finally just broke in and said on Dayside....President Bush has just been declared the winner of Iowa's electoral votes....the crowd erupted in applause...it's about time! MSNBC should color the box in on their democracy ice rink sometime around Christmas.

President Reporting: 100% George W. Bush, Rep (i) 745,997 (50.1%) John F. Kerry, Dem 732,780 (49.2%)

Just heard on KABC RADIO...!!!!!!!!!

Are we gonna lose New Mexico?

<p>Just happened a few minutes ago. Just in case anyone might like to know.</p>

IOWA Results With 100% reporting Bush: 745,970 50% Kerry: 732,737 49% "Too close to call"

County clerks waded through provisional ballots Thursday, working toward a final unofficial tally of New Mexico's election results. The Associated Press tally with most absentee votes counted late Thursday had President Bush leading by 8,366 votes. But there were at least 19,500 uncounted paper ballots— so-called provisional and in-lieu-of ballots— statewide, according to a survey Thursday of most of New Mexico's 33 county clerks by The Associated Press. Provisional ballots, required by the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act, allow people to vote even if their name isn't listed at the polling place. In-lieu-of ballots are used by voters who...

OK, there has been some anxiety regarding what happen to NM. I looked at NM state website, and made a comparison between their numbers with Media's number (CNN, C-Span, Yahoo) based on the county reports. My impression after looking at the report posted at 7:47pm at the State website is that the state website a bit behind in updating the figures. Many counties that have 100% precinct reported, are stil listed as less than that in the state website. Here are the breakdown by county that didn't have 100% reported yet: Chaves, 51 reported out of 52 precincts, Bush got...

Latest vote tally shows Bush outpolling Kerry by 746,461 (50.05%) to 732,416 (49.11%).

Culver: No Iowa Winner Until Next Week Local Panels Count Absentee, Provisional Ballots POSTED: 4:26 PM CST November 3, 2004 UPDATED: 5:23 PM CST November 3, 2004 DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa has yet to declare a winner in the presidential election -- even though Democrat John Kerry has conceded the election to President George W. Bush. Iowa counties, Election 2004, red/blueA breakdown of Iowa counties on Election Night 2004: Red counties went to President George W. Bush and blue counties went to Sen. John Kerry./2004/1103/3888332.jpg/2004/1103/3888332_40X30.jpg/2004/1103/3888332_60X45.jpg/2004/1103/3888332_80X60.jpg/2004/1103/3888332_120X90.jpg/2004/1103/3888332_200X150.jpgIowa counties, Election 2004 Secretary of State Chet Culver told KCCI a winner might not...

Finally

Results for: Statewide Results Number Of Voters: 697032 Results as of: 11/3/2004 1:34:51 PM Candidate or Issue Party Votes Percent PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JOHN F. KERRY and JOHN EDWARDS Democratic 339261 (48.1%) GEORGE W. BUSH and DICK CHENEY Republican 357811 (50.8%) DAVID COBB and PATRICIA LaMARCHE Green 1140 (0.2%) MICHAEL PEROUTKA and DR. CHUCK BALDWIN Constitution 730 (0.1%) MICHAEL BADNARIK and RICHARD V. CAMPAGNA Libertarian 2211 (0.3%) RALPH NADER and PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO Independent 3714 (0.5%)