FWIW: Pollster.com – “The Polls: The 2008 Presidential Election” has good 'state-by-state' and national poll data comparing most all polling organizations. Mouse over states for basic info or click for graph comparing different polls.

I'd guess it won't be until Tuesday of Wednesday of next week that the bounce should level out. Nobody should freak out until then.

There are a number of good poll aggregators. I prefer Pollster.com, which puts actual poll results up front and gives reasonably simple explanations. (FiveThirtyEight.com is a little wonky for my taste, but I like to look it over.)

RealClearPolitics.com also has a good page of averages, with handy links to the battleground states immediately on the left side of the page.

And don't forget TPM Election Central, which shows recent poll results immediately to the right with a handy link to their poll tracker right beneath.

Please keep up the great coverage!!

Yes, Obama's national polls have shrunk. This may be expected with the post-GOP convention bounce (and the Palin craze).

However, if we look at the electoral college and the battleground states, Obama's advantage remains clear and considerable. McCain faces an uphill battle (which may be why he played the Palin “wild card”).

Senator Obama is the coolest (by this I mean rational, disciplined) presidential candidate Americans have seen in many years. He is almost the anti-Clinton.

I still believe the nature of this race favors him.

The only thing I would add is this: neither will it hurt. In terms of federal tax revenues, the fact is that seniors with incomes below $50,000 represent nary a blip on the radar screen. So yeah, in the grand scheme of things, they really aren't a priority. Not fiscally anyway. It matters to those seniors, though. I admire your mother for her selfless compassion, but consider this question nonetheless: what demographic would you say Obama the whippersnapper is having the hardest time convincing?

“Why risk this clear lead for the uncertain advantage of tearing into his opponent's running mate?“

If you follow the gallup links in my post, they have Obama's lead shrunk from 9 points on Wed. to two points today. CBS and USA Today have them dead even. The lead, at least for the moment, has evaporated. That is, in part, what prompted my question.

Aside from his responding to attack lines, Obama has only declared he would fire any Democrat on his team who made comments about Palin's family. Smart.

I am not an Obama supporter, but I see that Obama has undeniable advantages over McCain at the moment: he has (1) greater policy depth; (2) more money; and (3) an enthusiasm advantage.

Why risk this clear lead for the uncertain advantage of tearing into his opponent's running mate? If Obama started hammering Palin now, the McCain team could smear him as a sexist and lump him with the nutters who demand Palin's amniotic tests, her neighbor's divorce files, her hunting records etc.

This could be potentially disastrous. Anyone who thinks this could not happen need only look at McCain going down in flames in South Carolina in 2000 with smears of miscegnation, homosexuality etc.

I am sure the McCain team would LOVE Obama hammering Palin at the moment.

But Obama seems to me a cool, rather than a hot, politician. He will bide his time.

Seniors making less than $50,000/yr hold the majority of wealth in this country? What are you, kidding???

I remember in 2004 that there was all the talk about an October surprise. I wonder if the Bushies/McCain will try one this year…

Jazz, great post, thanks!

Let us put this another way, Paul Krugman states that this might be the first generation that has a lower standard of living than the preceding generation.
How does this policy not exacerbate that problem?

We can agree or disagree as to whether Social Security is solvent, but even Krugman states that money will need to come from the General Revenue fund to shore up Social Security.
Who is going to pay those taxes – not seniors apparently?

I am all for helping seniors and this policy would in fact benefit my mother, but she owns her home outright and receives several other benefits because of her age. I love my mother. I was raised by her alone, but even she agrees that we are putting too much of a burden on the next generation.

“We, the undersigned, call on Sarah Palin to fulfill her promise to cooperate with the Alaska Troopergate investigation.

We demand that GOP operatives stop stonewalling the investigation.

We as Americans say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and demand the information we are entitled to know to make an informed decision before election day!”

Please help get the word out!

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09...

I think Obama was waiting a bit for the convention to finish before launching a sustained attack. Unlike McCain's shoot-from-the-hip strategy, Obama's measured approach will work better. There was a glaring weakness in the RNC all week: no substance on any major issue of the day. When McCain finally said a few words about the economy he offered old GOP boilerplate and nothing new. Palin offered even less in her speech.

As for the tracking polls, everybody gets a convention bounce. We'll have to wait until middle of the week before we see what the race really looks like now.

I know you wanted to bring a little balance, but I don’t think Obama can survive this intense critical analysis.