MONDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP….Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers.
* Obama expects the presidential race to get tighter in the remaining 15 days.
* McCain’s creepy obsession with “Joe the Plumber” isn’t paying political dividends.
* At this point, early voting and absentee ballots seem to favor Obama in several “red” states, including Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
* If you haven’t seen pictures from Obama’s record-breaking crowd in St. Louis on Saturday, it was an impressive showing.
* Obama and Hillary Clinton will campaign together in Florida today, their first joint appearance since a New Hampshire event in June.
* Sarah Palin appeared on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, and was in two amusing skits.
* McCain has spent less time in “real” Virginia than Obama.
* The AFL-CIO has a hard-hitting direct-mail piece going out on McCain and retirees.
* In Ohio, a Mason-Dixon poll shows McCain leading Obama by one, 46% to 45%.
* In Colorado, Rasmussen shows Obama leading McCain by seven, 52% to 45%.
* In Minnesota, a Star Tribune poll shows Obama leading McCain by 11, 52% to 41%, Research 2000 shows Obama ahead by 13, 52% to 39%, and SurveyUSA shows Obama up by six, 50% to 44%.
* In Wisconsin, Mason-Dixon shows Obama leading McCain by 12, 51% to 39%, while a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee poll shows Obama up by 15, 51% to 36%.
* In West Virginia, Mason-Dixon shows McCain leading Obama by six, 47% to 41%.
* In Montana, Research 2000 shows McCain leading Obama by four, 49% to 45%.
