Decision Virginia

It seems that the Commonwealth is following the trend of the rest of the nation and leaning their support to Barack Obama. A new set of polls out are positive for Obama, but show that their is still quite a bit of uncertainty as to who the Old Dominion will vote for come election day. Here is the latest breakdown from Real Clear Politics:

Virginia: McCain vs. Obama

Polling Data

See All Virginia: McCain vs. Obama Polling Data

As you can see the RCP average is just over 2% in Obama’s favor. This could have been much worse for the Republicans, if not for a new Mason-Dixon poll released today that showed McCain leading by 3 points. A CNN/Time poll shows Obama with a 9 point lead and the Insider Advantage/Poll Position poll has him up by 3. It is clear that the perception of the economic conditions of the country have had a similar impact on McCain in Virginia as they have in other parts of the state.

This again shows how important it is for Sarah Palin to rally the Republican base once again in her debate tonight with Joe Biden.

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There is no doubt that there is a lot riding on tonight’s Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. After a pretty even Presidential debate, it seems that this could be a make or break night for the McCain-Palin ticket. Palin’s sensational entrance on to the national scene has been muted after a few less than impressive interviews. If she stumbles tonight in front of what is expected to be a large television audience, the McCain camp may not be able to recover. 

We will once again, give you an instant idea of how Central Virginians are reacting to the Palin-Biden tilt. We will have our student reporters from Manchester High School liveblogging from a local Biden watching party and a local Palin watching party. I will be back at the NBC12 studios moderating the conversation, which you are welcome to take part in. Our coverage will begin right before the debate starts at 8:55pm. 

And once again, in the wake of another major campaign moment, the Obama-Biden team has planned yet another trip to Virginia. Barack Obama will visit Newport News on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how frequent these visits will be after the voter registration closes on October 6th. The Democrats are working hard to register new voters, because they believe the majority of new voters are their voters. 

It is also worth pointing out, that since claiming the nomination, the Obama team has visited Virginia many times, but have only been to Richmond twice. One visit by the candidate himself and one by his wife, Michelle. Could that be one of the reasons that he has not made the same kind of strides in the Richmond area that he has in other parts of the state?

That being said, Senator McCain has only been to Central Virginia once and that was only for a private fundraiser.