Battleground: Lots of early voting
Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:36 AM by Domenico Montanaro
The Politico takes a magnifying glass to key swing counties in McCain's must-win states, and the news is not good for the GOP nominee. In Nevada's Washoe and North Carolina's Wake, Obama has made gains since earlier this month, besting his opponent by ten and 9 points respectively. But pollsters find that both states, as a whole, remain a dead heat.
Video: Many counties in Florida are reporting record turnout as early voting kicks off. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports.COLORADO: "About 400 voters showed up during the first three hours of voting in Arapahoe County. That's about the same turnout as during the
entire five days of early voting in the August primary in that county, said Clerk and Recorder Nancy Doty."
FLORIDA: Long lines greeted early voters in the Sunshine state. "Registration numbers released Sunday show a 600,000-voter edge for Democrats over Republicans in Florida: 4.7 million versus 4.1 million, with 2.1 million people identifying with neither party. The McCain campaign acknowledged it expected more Democrats than Republicans to vote early, but says GOP voters have requested 295,000 absentee ballots statewide compared with 199,000 Democrats."
First Person: Did you vote early? How wre your experiences? Send us your video, photos or personal report.
MICHIGAN: 8-mile native Eminem
endorsed Obama. (Where’s Eminem been, anyway?)
NEVADA: Jon Ralston on the early voting in the state: “Third day exceeds second. Turnout will hit double-digits Tuesday. Democrats still have huge lead -- 40,625 -17,509. That’s 59 percent to 25 percent. (Monday it was 13,099-6,419.) In CD3, it’s 2-to-1 Democratic voter lead. Senate 5 (Heck) just under 2-to-1 Democrats; Senate 6 (Beers) about 2-to-1, too. The Democrats essentially are doubling the GOP turnout -- or more -- every day. Can they possibly keep this up?"
More from Ralston from his daily report: "Four years ago, the best the Democrats could do was to capture 46 percent of that day's early voters on any given day. This weekend: On Saturday, it was 62 percent; Sunday, it was 58 percent. Contrast that with the GOP numbers from 2004: The worst day the Republicans had was 37 percent of the early vote on any given day. On Saturday, the GOP turnout was 23 percent of the total and Sunday it was 26 percent. Yes, it's only two days. But it's the two days where - besides, perhaps, the final weekend of early voting - there will be the greatest turnout."
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Concord Monitor is out with a new poll that puts Obama up seven points in the Granite State, up from a four-point lead last month.
NORTH CAROLINA: The New York Times parachutes into this toss-up state to see why it’s tied. "The turnabout can be traced to an influx of new voters and a change in demographics; a slowing of the state’s economy and the collapse of the nation’s financial system; Mr. Obama’s extensive ground organization, huge financial advantage and amount spent on television (seven to one over Mr. McCain); the state’s large population of blacks and students; and Mr. McCain’s neglect of the state.”
“The relative position of the candidates was evident in their visits to the state last weekend. Mr. McCain spoke to a few thousand people in Concord, in Cabarrus County, which is an exurb of Charlotte and which voted lopsidedly in 2004 for Mr. Bush (67 percent to 33 percent). On a sunny Saturday morning, Mr. McCain’s audience seemed made up mainly of his base. They cheered loudly when he mentioned Ms. Palin and ‘Joe the Plumber’… "On Sunday, in a fortuitous bit of timing, Mr. Obama spoke in Fayetteville, dense with military families, in his first appearance after being endorsed by former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Mr. Obama’s visit to the area, which voted marginally for Mr. Bush in 2004, was his sixth trip to the state since the primaries, and he was reaching beyond his base."
"Police at Western Carolina University and wildlife officials were investigating the discovery early Monday of a dead bear cub draped with a pair of Barack Obama campaign signs. ... The bear had been shot in the head. ... Bear season is under way in western North Carolina."
