The Electoral College — not the popular vote — determines who wins the presidency, and there are signs that President Obama is close to a majority.
The website Real Clear Politics, which aggregates national and state polls, has moved Ohio to a “likely Obama” state. The president leads in states that add up to 265 electoral votes, as opposed to 191 for Republican Mitt Romney.
It takes 270 electoral votes to win the election, and the presidency.
Real Clear Politics lists seven “tossup” states totaling 82 electoral votes: Colorado (9), Florida (29), Iowa (6), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), North Carolina (15), and Virginia (13).
Both Obama and Romney are campaigning today in Virginia.
Other states are listed as “likely” or “leaning” toward one candidate or the other and could shift just as Ohio has.
Obama is spiking up in a variety of state and national polls in recent days, with leads in such key swing states as Ohio, Florida and Virginia.
The Real Clear Politics average of national polls gives Obama a 5-point lead, 48.9%-44.9%
Obama leads Romney by 6 points in the Gallup daily tracking poll.
It’s not over — there is more than a month left before Election Day, Nov. 6. Three presidential debates and a vice presidential debate remain on the schedule.
( usatoday )
