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Methodology (Caller ID) All respondents interviewed in this study were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in the state of Virginia using a probability sampling method of landlines for a total sample of N=696 registered “likely” voters. The Margin of Error for the sample is +/- 3.7% with a confidence level of 95%. The survey was administered using an Automated Telephone Interviewing (ATI) system. The ATI system allows data to be entered directly into a computerized database through the numbers on interviewee’s phone, providing a highly reliable system of data collection. A random sample of registered voters...

Mitt Romney leads President Obama in national polls, and the president is approaching his all-time low in the RealClearPolitics average. Romney leads in some key swing states (e.g., Florida, Colorado and North Carolina) and has largely erased the deficit in others (Ohio, Virginia, Nevada). His approval rating (the likability rating so many liberals have obsessed about) is in positive territory; the gap between the two candidates’ approval ratings has all but disappeared. Obama is below 60 on Intrade. Crowds for Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) are swelling in battleground states like Ohio. The Associated Press reported: The crowds tell...

So the race for the White House has definitely become much easier for us in the past week and a half...and the VP debate probably didn't do anything to help Obama. After analyzing the polls and history, I think we can safely say that the electoral vote count is: Romney: 257 I give Romney all McCain states plus Indiana, Nebraska 2, NC, FL, VA, and Colorado. I think Romney will definitely win those, meaning he needs only 13 more electoral votes with theses states left: PA, WI, MI, NH, Iowa, Nevada, and Ohio. These are the states Romney needs to...

A new poll from McLaughlin & Associates, highlighted by BreitbartÂ’s Tony Lee, provides even more supporting evidence for Suffolk UniversityÂ’s conclusion that thereÂ’s not much chance of Barack Obama winning the state. Mitt Romney has taken a seven-point lead and grabbed a majority, 51/44, in the survey taken on Monday and Tuesday of 600 likely voters in the state. More importantly, Romney has a double-digit lead among independents (via Drudge Report): According to a McLaughlin & Associates poll that had an R+.02 sample, Romney leads Obama in Virginia 51%-44%. Among independents, Romney beats Obama by 11 points, 50%-39%. If these...

Both national and swing-state polls are beginning to tighten in the presidential race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. It's a signal that an expected Romney bump is starting to take shape after his consensus win in the first presidential debate on Wednesday. Polls that track both national and swing state voting have shown nothing but bad news for the president over the last couple of days. Here's a sampling of the national polls: Gallup: Romney is starting to close in on Obama, trailing by only 3 points in the seven-day rolling average. And that average only...

DEAD possums litter the roads of the southern United States and whenever Bernie Smith encounters another fallen marsupial he pulls over and hurls the corpse into the back of his truck. One man's detritus is another man's feast: cooked slowly with potato, carrot and celery, the meat becomes tender in a rich and spicy stew known as burgoo. Mr Smith, 67, was showing off this traditional technique at the annual Road Kill Cook-Off festival in Marlinton, West Virginia, an isolated town nestled in the Appalachian mountains. Thousands were on hand this weekend to compare his casserole with barbecue squirrel, bear...

Prominent Middle East expert Dr. James Zogby tells Newsmax that President Obama is polling about 18 percent below his 2008 numbers among Arab-American voters. But those Arab-Americans who are Muslims now “overwhelmingly” support the Democratic candidate compared to four years ago, he adds. Zogby also discloses that Arab-Americans across the board consider jobs and the economy as the most important issue in this year’s elections. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based organization that serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab-American community, and author of the book “Arab Voices: What...

Mike Duncan, chairman of the powerful super PAC American Crossroads, tells Newsmax.TV that undecided voters will make up their minds late in the campaign and elect Mitt Romney as the next president. He also says he is confident that Republicans will retain control of the House and are within “striking distance” of winning the Senate. (VIDEO AT LINK) Duncan served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009, and on the campaigns of five presidents. He is also the president and CEO of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. His political action committee American Crossroads, backed...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I got this last night. Wall Street Journal, NBC poll. And it was depressing, folks. You know what it was? I don't have it right in front of me, but I remember it. In essence, it said it's over in Virginia, Florida, and Ohio for Romney. The latest NBC News/Washington Post poll has shown that President Obama has pulled ahead in these three swing states to the point that if Romney's to have any chance whatsoever he's going to have to convince Obama voters to vote for him because the undecideds have already made up their minds....

Executive Summary On the days of September 8th and 9th, Gravis Marketing, a non-partisan research company, and Capitol Correspondent conducted a survey of 2,238 likely voters in the state of Virginia. The survey covered the same questions as the August survey, which comprised questions regarding the presidential election, Virginia’s senate race, the direction of the United States, and the effect of a libertarian candidate on Romney and Obama. Overall, from August to the most recent survey, Obama’s 44% to 40% lead has turned into a Romney lead of 49% to 44% in the most recent poll. Interestingly, Obama didn’t lose...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept 8 (Reuters) - Mitt Romney was set to try another lap around the track on Saturday to win over NASCAR stock-car racing fans. Romney, the Republican presidential candidate facing President Barack Obama, will visit a NASCAR race on Saturday night in Virginia, targeting white male voters in a swing state where early voting begins in two weeks. Romney needs to win among white men by a healthy margin to offset the advantages Obama enjoys with women as well as black and Hispanic voters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed Romney with a 20 percentage-point lead among...

Less than an hour after President Barack Obama had stepped off of the Democratic National Convention stage, Republican challenger Mitt Romney's campaign announced 15 new, state-specific television advertisements which the campaign says will run in 8 battlegrounds. A week ago, Romney was officially made the Republican Party's presidential nominee, granting him access to a substantial war chest set aside for the general election. His campaign largely stayed off of television during the Democratic National Convention, which concluded after Obama's speech on Thursday. --snip-- Now that Romney has officially been named the GOP nominee his campaign will get its hands on...

Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund plans to spend more than $3 million in Ohio and Virginia against Mitt Romney in the wake of his pledge to “get rid” of the women’s health advocacy group. The group is one of several liberal-leaning women’s organizations planning to spend millions of dollars in crucial election states to swing undecided female voters toward President Obama. Joining them are NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List, two abortion-rights groups who are also planning aggressive campaigns. Their message is in line with Obama’s increased courtship of female voters. Several women will address the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte....

Although the most recent Gallup poll didn't find any "immediate bump" nationally from the addition of Paul Ryan to Mitt Romney's presidential ticket, a new Purple Strategies survey finds that Ryan helped contribute to a decent upward swing in two crucial battleground states over the past month. The Romney-Ryan ticket now leads President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the key swing states of Virginia and Ohio, which each saw 5-point swings in the last month. Romney-Ryan lead 46 to 44 percent in Ohio and 48 to 45 percent in Virginia. Combined, the two states account for 31...

Virginia election officials decided Monday to not take action against a D.C. group that sent voter registration cards to dead people, children and pets and prompted calls for an investigation from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The Virginia Board of Elections said it was already working with the Voter Participation Center to improve the group's registration practices so ineligible voters would not be targeted in the future. Romney's campaign recently called for an investigation of the group, which targeted minorities and young voters when it sent out 200,000 registration cards. The campaign said it was satisfied with the board's decision....

In October 2011, the Republican Party of Virginia's State Central Committee voted to nominate its 2013 statewide ticket in a primary. Tuesday's Times-Dispatch reported that the committee might change the rules and opt to nominate candidates in a convention instead. The appropriate response runs to three words: Don't do it. The Times-Dispatch long has considered primaries the preferred vehicles for nominations — for both parties. Although primaries can compel campaigns to spend more money, they tend to leave less blood on the floor. Caucuses and conventions often turn personal; they open wounds. They also attract activists, ideologues, partisans and crackpots...

Former Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis has turned in his Democratic Party card as he prepares to register for the GOP in Virginia. The switch was rumored for some time following his departure from Democratic politics in 2010. Davis left political circles after his unsuccessful run for governor in Alabama. He lost in the 2010 primaries, and generating hostility from some fellow Democrats who disliked his effort to avoid identity politics. The winning Democrat was trounced by the Republican candidate in the general election. “If I were to run [for office], it would be as a Republican … [because] wearing...

Not too long ago pundits were arguing that Mitt Romney’s path to 270 electoral votes was “narrow.” We didn’t buy it. Lo and behold, conventional wisdom has now changed. The Associated Press writes: “Warning signs for Obama on tight path to 270.” The AP explains: Obama’s new worries about North Carolina and Wisconsin offer opportunities for Republican Mitt Romney, who must peel off states Obama won in 2008 if he’s to cobble together the 270 electoral votes needed to oust the incumbent in November. Iowa, which kicked off the campaign in January, is now expected to be tight to the...

If you need proof that President Obama's team will run a formidable ground game in Virginia, consider this: At the 2012 kickoff rally in Richmond, organizers say they signed up 1,500 new volunteers from the 8,000 people in the crowd. But in addition to obvious dangers like a struggling economy, Obama’s team will face a new threat -- a better-prepared Republican Party coming off three years of victories in the state. That wasn’t the case in 2008, when John McCain’s campaign figured Virginia would follow its long-established trend of voting Republican in the presidential race. He ended up losing by...

The Virginia State Board of Elections announced Monday evening it would allow a Democratic primary challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Moran on the ballot after initially disqualifying him.