Karl's Book, Courage and Consequence available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, and Books-a-Million
Methodology
For each state, the map uses the average of all public telephone polls (internet polls are not included in the average) taken within 30 days of the most recent poll available in each state. For example, if the most recent poll in Ohio was taken on July 1, the average includes all polls conducted between June 1 and July 1. States within a three-point lead for the Republican or Democratic candidate are classified as toss-ups; states outside the three-point lead are allocated to the respective party. For states where primaries have yet to occur, the map uses polling match-ups between the candidates leading in polls among each party's primary voters.
Election 2008: State of the Race
While no states changed classifications over the past week, the race continues to tighten in the Electoral College as 13 of the 16 states with new polls showed movement towards McCain. Among the most important is Ohio (20 EV), which went from dead even last week to a three-point McCain lead this week, just on the cusp of moving out of toss-up territory. In Colorado (9 EV), another key battleground state, McCain further narrowed Obama’s edge to just a point. McCain also solidified his lead in Missouri (11 EV) and North Carolina (15 EV), while cutting Obama’s margin to just five points in both Minnesota (10 EV) and Pennsylvania (21 EV). Obama’s electoral lead still stands at 260 votes to McCain’s 194 with 84 toss-up votes, but another good week for McCain will undoubtedly see the Electoral College tighten.
Download this map »
Download this map »
