The Battleground States

Homestretch now to Election Day. We’ll touch down in key battleground states to read the homestretch lay of the land.

Three weeks to Election Day.  All those months and years of campaigning, coming down to all that matters.

And the real rub of the presidential contest, Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney, coming down to a handful of swing states, we’re told, that are truly still in play.  Debate One, Obama-Romney, shook up the race.  Put more voters back in play.

So who’s persuadable now?  Who’s moving?  We’re going to three key swing states in this hour to listen and learn.  Ohio, Florida and Colorado.

This hour, On Point:  we’re on the ground, and listening, where this election is likely to be decided.
-Tom Ashbrook

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College, which has run a national public opinion poll since 1978.

Joe Vardon, political reporter, The Columbus Dispatch.

Adam Smith, political editor, Tampa Bay Times.

Chuck Plunkett, Politics Editor at the Denver Post.

New York Times "The case that Mr. Romney’s bounce is evaporating after his debate last week in Denver continues to look a bit thin. The tracking polls aren’t perfect by any means. Some are better than others, but they are a below-average group of polls on the whole. But they do provide useful information about the day-to-day trend in the race, and so far they haven’t shown the sort of reversal that Democrats might have hoped for."

National Journal "New battleground-state polls show slight movement toward Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in five of the states that could prove pivotal in the battle for the White House, and in the wake of last week's presidential debate, Romney and President Obama are locked in close races in key swing states."

Washington Post "The good news for Romney is that his favorable rating is now in positive territory in most states. The only state showing him with a higher unfavorable rating than favorable rating is Ohio. Everywhere else, he is either in positive territory or is viewed favorably by about the same percentage who view him unfavorably."