Forty-two percent of voters strongly approve of Barack Obama's performance as President-Elect while 19 percent strongly disapprove, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll published Nov. 30. If those who "somewhat" approve or disapprove are added to the numbers, Obama's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 63 percent to 34 percent.

There's been a lot of speculation that Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball" is mulling a run against Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter in 2010. The blog FiveThirtyEight reported Friday that Matthews was "staffing up" and was likely to run. Matthews quickly denied it. The Harrisburg Patriot-News said today that Matthews "isn't ready to say he's running for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, but he continues to talk with top Democrats about the possibility," including Democratic State Committee Chairman T.J. Rooney and executive director Mary Isenhour.

Matthews, who once ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Pennsylvania, started all this speculation himself in April when he said "I want to be a Senator."

First-term Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss holds a 52 percent to 46 percent lead over Democratic challenger James Martin), a former state representative, in their Dec. 2 runoff battle, according to a Research 2000 survey conducted Nov. 23-25. Two percent are undecided and the margin of error is 4 points.

Research 2000 makes the same observation that Public Policy Polling did in its Nov. 22-23 poll: that Chambliss has been able to widen his lead because, this time around, Barack Obama is not on the ballot to lure a larger turnout. PPP had Chambliss leading Martin 53 percent to 41 percent.

An InsiderAdvantage/Politico poll conducted Nov. 23 had Chambliss ahead 50 percent to 47 percent with 3 percent undecided.

"This thing's going to be a nail-biter. We don't know who's going to turn out and we don't know how it's going to turn out, but it's going to be a close race," said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery.

The runoff was forced when Chambliss fell short of the 50 percent needed to win out right, beating Martin 49.8 percent to 46.8 percent with 3.4 percent for Libertarian Allen Buckley. Georgia and Minnesota, where a recount is going on, are the last two chances Democrats have to reach the magic number of 60 in the Senate, which is enough votes to break a filibuster.

Taking a look back at the hard-fought presidential campaign from the primaries through the general election, an Associated Press/Yahoo poll conducted 10 times from November 2007 through Election Day found a significant number of voters who shifted their loyalties, sometimes more than once.

Seventeen percent of those who ultimately voted for Obama said that, at least one point, they supported McCain. Eleven percent of McCain supporters said there had been a time or times when they backed to Obama. Overall, just 28 percent of those who voted for Obama and 27 percent who chose McCain had backed their candidate in all 10 polls.

Other findings:

One in five who described themselves as independents in November 2007 divided 45 percent for McCain and 42 percent for Obama.

Three-quarters of those who said in January or April that they backed Hillary Clinton voted for Obama in the end.

While its previous polls show an electoral shift in party identification towards the Democrats, the Pew Research Center says that there has not been the same shift in the ideology of voters. The numbers of voters who put themselves in the categories of liberal, moderate and conservative has changed little since the George Bush won his first term.

At the outset of the Bush administration, 18 percent of voters said they were liberal, 38 percent called themselves moderate and 36 percent described themselves as conservative. The numbers now are 21 percent, 36 percent and 38 percent respectively. There is more ideological unit among Republicans with 68 percent saying they are conservative, while among Democrats 34 percent say they are liberal and 37 percent say they are moderate.

Pew notes that ideology does not always predict where a voter will come out on an issue. Here's a summary chart from Pew on how the ideological groups come out on a range of subjects:

Barack Obama is still in the honeymoon phase of his transition although it remains to be seen whether he will match the approval numbers President Bush and form President Clinton had as events moved into the inauguration month of January, according to an ABC News poll conducted Nov. 19-23.

A separate Gallup analysis of polling data collected between Nov. 5-23 found Americans confident about Obama's ability to be a good president by 65 percent to 28 percent. As with the ABC poll, there is a sharp partisan divide with only 28 percent of Republicans holding that view.

In the ABC poll, sixty-seven percent gave Obama positive marks for how he is handling his transition. That was better than Clinton did (62 percent) in November 1992, but in January the Clinton number was 81 percent and for Bush, in 2001, it was 72 percent. The difference was that the partisan divide was less sharp in 2001 and 1992. Only 39 percent of Republicans approve of Obama's performance so far. Clinton in November had the approval of 44 percent of Republicans, a number that rose to 72 percent in January. Bush won the approval of 57 percent of Democrats. However, Clinton's acceptance by Republicans dropped off pretty quickly after he took office.

Gallup periodically does polls measuring how the public rates various professions for honesty and ethics, and taking a look at the results for its Nov. 7-9 survey, this is not a good time to be a lobbyist, telemarketer or car salesman.

Over half the public give low marks to car salesmen, with telemarketers and lobbyists being panned by 60 percent and 64 percent respectively. That perhaps is some consolation for congressman who shine by contrast, with 46 percent - a plurality - not having much regard for them.

Journalists, bankers, building contractors and real estate agents are viewed neutrally although the reputations of bankers - no surprise, given current events - who were rated very highly by 41 percent in 2005, now only get those marks from 23 percent.

Who came out best?

Nurses. Eight-four percent rated their honesty and ethical standards as high or very high.

First-term Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss has widened his lead over Democratic challenger James Martin), a former state representative, in their Dec. 2 runoff battle, according to a survey conducted Nov. 22-23 by Public Policy Polling. The runoff was forced when Chambliss fell short of the 50 percent needed to win out right, beating Martin 49.8 percent to 46.8 percent with 3.4 percent for Libertarian Allen Buckley.

Chambliss is now leading Martin 53 percent to 41 percent with 2 percent undecided in the PPP survey. The margin of error is 3.3 percent.

PPP says that Martin has benefited earlier from larger turnout among young generated by Barack Obama who may not come out just to vote for Martin. In its pre-election Oct. 31 - Nov. 2 poll, PPP put the size of the 17-to-29 sample at 17 percent, compared to 12 percent in the new survey. The size of the sample of voters over 65 in the new survey is 20 percent compared to 15 percent before Election Day. The younger voters favor Martin by 8 points while those over 65 back Chambliss by a 38 point margin.

So, who is emerging from the ashes on the GOP side after getting beaten in the race for the White House? Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee lead the list according to a Gallup poll conducted Nov. 5-16 among Republicans.

Asked who they would like to see run for President in 2012, 67 percent chose Palin, 62 percent chose Romney and 61 percent said Mike Huckabee. Gen. David Petraeus, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich scored in the high 40s. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, frequently touted as a rising star in the party, garnered only 34 percent who wanted to see him run against 36 percent who didn't, but his biggest problem may be recognition - 30 percent had no opinion. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham both drew big thumbs-down.

Palin, Romney and Huckabee all finish in the same order among Republicans who identify themselves as conservatives. The top choices among those calling themselves moderate or liberal is Romney (59 percent) and Giuliani (50 percent). Both Palin and Huckabee fall to 48 percent and 46 percent respectively among moderates and liberals.

Mirroring the results of a Gallup poll earlier this week, a survey by the Pew Research Center conducted Nov. 14-17 finds Americans about evenly divided on whether they think the $700 billion government bailout plan for financial institutions was the right or wrong thing to do.

Forty-three percent said it was the wrong thing compared to 40 percent who supported it. But that's a turnaround from mid-October when those polled said it was the right thing by 47 percent to 37 percent and perhaps reflects the fact that the stock market continued to nosedive in that period and most economic indicators remained relentlessly negative. Gallup's survey had respondents saying the rescue was a good thing by a bare 47 percent to 45 percent, but that too reflected a loss of support from an early October poll when it was 50 percent to 41 percent.

In the Pew survey, Republicans by far took the dimmest view of the bailout. In October, they were roughly divided at 44 percent to 42 percent in favor, but in the new poll they called it the wrong thing to do by 53 percent to 33 percent. Democrats remained about the same in support of the plan at 52 percent to 32 percent, and independents became somewhat more negative going from a small plurality in mid-October that supported it, to a 46 percent to 37 percent margin of those who now think it was the wrong course.

Half of voters described themselves as angry about what they are hearing about the economy, 57 percent are scared, 63 percent are confused, 65 percent are depressed and, despite all that, 69 percent are optimistic.

Wall Street is not the only place where stocks are falling. The stock of the Republican party has gone from "bad to worse" in the last month according to a Gallup poll conducted Nov. 13-16. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed had an unfavorable view of the GOP, the highest since Gallup began taking this measure in 1992, while 34 percent had a favorable view. The public's view of Democrats remained about the same as before the election with a 55 percent to 39 percent favorable to unfavorable ratio.

Gallup also asked Republicans what direction they think the party should take in the wake of this year's elections. Fifty-nine percent wanted the party to go in a more conservative direction, 28 percent favored staying the same and 12 percent wanted the party to become less conservative. For an interesting Capitol Hill view of this, check out Salon's article today, The GOP's Problem? It's Not Right-Wing Enough.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans favor Barack Obama making Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State, according to a Gallup poll conducted Nov. 18. Thirty percent don't like the idea.

Democrats support her selection by 79 percent to 12 percent, independents by 57 percent to 27 percent while Republicans oppose it 61 percent to 28 percent.

Americans are almost evenly divided on whether the federal government should bail out the auto industry, according to a Gallup poll conducted Nov. 13-16.

Forty-nine percent oppose a bailout with 47 percent favoring one and 4 percent was undecided. The margin of error is 3 percent. Democrats favor such a measure 60 percent to 36 percent while Republicans oppose it 53 percent to 41 percent and independents are against it 65 percent to 35 percent. Among those who oppose a bailout, 79 percent say they would hold that position even if it meant the failure of one or more of the Big Three automakers to survive.

Public opinion has shifted slightly on the overall $700 billion measure to address the crisis among financial institutions. In early October, Americans considerd such action a good thing by 50 percent to 41 percent, a margin that has now fallen to 47 percent to 45 percent.

Separately, a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Nov. 15-16 said only 26 percent of those surveyed were very or somewhat confident that U.S. policymakers know what they're doing in dealing with the nation's current economic problems. By a bigger margin than the Gallup poll, Rasmussen said that Americans think the $700 billion rescue package has been bad for the country by 48 percent to 25 percent with 26 percent not sure.

Fifty-five percent of Americans say they have cut back on household spending because of the state of the economy and the stock markets, according to a Gallup poll conducted Oct. 20 and released today. That number was higher among couples with children under 18 (67 percent) and adults between 30 and 49 (64 percent).

Forty-four percent have cut down on eating out, including going for fast-food. Forty percent have cut down on movies, concerts and other entertainment. Thirty-four percent are cutting down travel for the holidays. Twenty percent are cutting down on household services, like maids and lawn care. Sixteen percent are cutting back on cable TV and cell phone costs.

Congress is back for its lame-duck session and Gallup was right there to welcome lawmakers back with a survey conducted Nov. 13-16 saying three-quarters of Americans don't approve of the job it is doing. Nineteen percent gave them a pat on the back. The all-time low in the approval rating was 14 percent, recorded in July. The dim view cut was held pretty much equally by Republicans, Democrats and independents.

The 2008 election saw continued movement of young voters into the Democratic fold in what the Pew Research Center called "a significant generational shift in political allegiance." Sixty-six percent of voters under 30 backed Barack Obama, although their votes were not crucial to his victory.

Pew says that these voters identify with the Democrats over Republicans by 45 percent to 26 percent compared to a nearly even split in 2000. As a group, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than older voters and more inclined to support activist government, opposition to the war in Iraq and to oppose social conservatism.

The Pew analysis of exit polls said that without the young vote, Obama would have lost Indiana and North Carolina but still would have won the election.

Despite the current grim economic straits in which Americans currently find themselves, poll after poll since the elections have captured a mood of optimism about things getting better in the first term of a Barack Obama administration.

The latest is a Pew Research Center survey conducted Nov. 6-9 that showed voters, including many Republicans, feeling a high sense of satisfaction about the election and the way it was conducted, believing Obama's first term will be successful and holding high expectations for him. Three-quarters of voters gave Obama a grade of "A" or "B" for the way he handled himself in the campaign.

Voters overall believe by 67 percent to 22 percent that Obama will have a successful first term. That view is held nearly universally by Democrats (92 percent) and by 39 percent of those who voted for John McCain. Forty-five percent of McCain supporters don't believe Obama will be successful, but still, that 39 percent who do hold a positive view is significantly higher than the 26 percent of John Kerry supporters in 2004 who thought George Bush would be successful.

As Barack Obama prepares for the White House and Sarah Palin is being talked about in some quarters as the future of the Republican Party, several polls today suggest that Americans are optimistic about what Obama's first term will bring and far less enthusiastic about a Palin in their future.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Nov. 6-9 found that forty-nine percent of Americans have a favorable view of Sarah Palin compared to 43 percent who view her unfavorably. Just after the GOP convention, she had been viewed favorably by 57 percent of registered voters compared to about a quarter who viewed her unfavorably. Palin does better among men than with women, with her favorable to unfavorable ratio among men being 51 percent to 41 percent. Her favorability rating with women is 3 points lower.

"With fairly high negatives and lower support among women, who should be a natural constituency for Palin, she's not starting off from a position of strength," said CNN polling director Keating Holland.

However, just as in the campaign, Palin remains a hit with the Republican base with 86 percent viewing her favorably.

As Barack Obama prepares for the White House and Sarah Palin is being talked about in some quarters as the future of the Republican Party, several polls today suggest that Americans are optimistic about what Obama's first term will bring and far less enthusiastic about a Palin in their future.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Nov. 6-9 found that forty-nine percent of Americans have a favorable view of Sarah Palin compared to 43 percent who view her unfavorably. Just after the GOP convention, she had been viewed favorably by 57 percent of registered voters compared to about a quarter who viewed her unfavorably. Palin does better among men than with women, with her favorable to unfavorable ratio among men being 51 percent to 41 percent. Her favorability rating with women is 3 points lower.

"With fairly high negatives and lower support among women, who should be a natural constituency for Palin, she's not starting off from a position of strength," said CNN polling director Keating Holland.

However, just as in the campaign, Palin remains a hit with the Republican base with 86 percent viewing her favorably.

Much in line with the Associated Press-GfK poll we posted earlier, a USA Today/Gallup poll finds, in a survey conducted Nov. 7-9, that a majority of Americans believe Obama will be able to produce results on 13 of 16 top issues it asked voters about. What is interesting about this analysis is that it gives a rough comparison between Obama and several past Presidents about how he stacks up with the public in the expectations game.

You can get the full list at Gallup, but the top five issues on which Americans believe Obama will be able to achieve results are improving conditions for minorities and the poor (80 percent), increasing respect for the U.S. abroad (76 percent), improving education (71 percent), improving the environment (70 percent) and reducing unemployment (67 percent). The three areas where a majority of Americans said Obama would not succeed is in substantially reducing the federal deficit, avoiding tax increases and controlling illegal immigration.

We posted yesterday about the Associated Press-GfK poll that found that nearly three-quarters of Americans have confidence that Barack Obama will meet the challenge of reviving the economy. Here are some more details from that poll which was conducted Nov. 6-10:

• The number of Americans who think the country is headed in the wrong direction is 56 percent, but that's a significant drop from the 78 percent who believed that in mid-October, before the election. The number of those believing the country is headed in the right direction increased from 17 percent to 36 percent.
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans describe themselves as "hopeful" as a result of the election outcome, 60 percent say they are proud and 51 percent say they are excited. Thirty-one percent are disappointed.

Seventy-two percent of Americans believe Barack Obama will bring about the changes needed to revive the economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll was conducted Nov. 6-10. That number included 44 percent of Republicans.

More than 80 percent said strengthening the economy and creating jobs also should be in the top tier, while 36 percent put tax cuts among the top-tier objectives.

Back last April, Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's "Hardball" started speculation that he might run for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010 against Republican incumbent Arlen Specter. Matthews said on The Colbert Show (about 4 1/2 minutes into his appearance), "Did you ever want to be something your whole life, besides this? When you grow up, some kids want to be a fireman. I want to be a Senator." And, in fact, Matthews once did try to run for Congress in Pennsylvania in 1974 and lost in the Democratic primary.

Now, Public Pollicy Polling says a survey of Pennsylvanians it conducted Oct. 31 - Nov. 2 gives Matthews a fighting chance. Specter leads 40 percent to 27 percent with an understandably large (at this point) 33 percent undecided. At this early stage, Matthews confronts the problem of bolstering Democratic support behind a potential canddidacy, since 35 percent of Democrats say they would support him and 30 percent say they would support Specter. Specter's own support among Republicans is higher than that of Matthews among Democrats, but at 50 percent for an iincumbent, it leaves something to be desired.

"Arlen Specter would definitely start out as the favorite if Chris Matthews challenged him," said PPP's Dean Debnam. "But this poll provides clear evidence that a Matthews candidacy is not a non-starter."

Barack Obama better enjoy this while he can. His meeting today with President Bush's was a study in contrasts: a very popular President-elect and a very unpopular sitting Chief Executive. A Gallup poll conducted Nov. 6-8 put Obama's favorable to unfavorable ratio at 70 percent to 25 percent, while Bush's job approval rating - a close cousin of the favorability number - stood at 27 percent.

Obama's favorability rating has risen since the election, after standing at 61 percent Nov. 1-3. Bush could face finishing his term with the lowest job approval rating in at least half a century, with Harry Truman the runner-up at 32 percent in 1952.

Here's Gallup's chart of how other presidents fared as they reached the end of their terms.

Barack Obama said at his first press conference as President-Elect that he hoped Americans would "put aside partisanship and politics" in order to deal with the challenges facing the country. But there was clearly a partisan divide in how Democrats and Republicans rated his first press conference according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Nov. 7.

While overall, 52 percent of those surveyed thought Obama set the right tone in his remarks compared to 28 percent who did not, that margin depended on the 83 percent of Democrats who said so while only 24 percent of Republicans agreed. Forty-nine percent of Republicans said he did not set the right tone. Voters said by 53 percent to 44 percent that they were very or somewhat confident Obama and his team could deal with crisis, and Democrats and Republicans divided sharply again - 82 percent of Democrats expressed confidence compared to 23 percent of Republicans.

For respondents who did not identify with either party, 41 percent said Obama had set the right tone against 35 percent, while by a 50 percent to 45 percent margin, unaffiliated voters were not very or at all confident of Obama's ability to deal with crisis.

Over two-thirds of Americans believe that the election of Barack Obama is one of the two or three most important advances for blacks in the last 100 years, with 33 percent saying it is the single most important advance, according to a Gallup poll conducted Nov. 5.

Eighty-two percent of Obama supporters hold that view as do 61 percent of those who backed John McCain. That reaction has also boosted the number of Americans who believe a solution to race relations problems will eventually be worked out to 67 percent, which Gallup says is the highest that number has been in its surveys. Seventy percent of voters say race relations with get a lot or a little better because of Obama's election.

President-Elect Obama has the unhappy prospect of beginning his administration at a time when the nation's job crisis is worsening, according to a Gallup analysis of polling it is regularly doing on "net new hiring activity." The percentage of workers who say their employers are hiring minus those who say people are being let go has fallen from 26.1 percent in January to 10.4 percent in the latest measurement, a 60 percent decline. The worst hit part of the country is the west and the region faring the best is the Midwest.

The Pew Research Center and Rasmussen Reports topped the list of pollsters for accuracy in their final projections for the presidential campaign, according to a study by political scientist Costas Panagopoulos of Fordham University.

Panagopoulos said that "for all the derision directed toward pre-election polling, the final poll estimates were not far off from the actual nationwide voteshares for the two candidates," Panagopoulos said. "On average, pre-election polls from 23 public polling organizations projected a Democratic advantage of 7.52 percentage points on Election Day, which is only about 1.37 percent points away" from Obama's 6.15 margin in the popular vote.

Barack Obama's victory was due in large part to "a substantial electoral shift toward the Democratic Party and by winning a number of key groups in the middle of the electorate," according to a Pew Research Center of the exit polls.

Pew noted that as recently as 2004, voters were evenly divided among Republicans and Democrats but that, now, 39 percent identify themselves as Democrats compared to 32 percent for the Republicans. That margin was larger than in either of the last two Democratic presidential victories when Bill Clinton ran in 1992 and 1996.

The biggest of the gains for the Democratic ticket among demographic groups since 2004 were among Hispanics (13 points), voters under 29 (12 points), urban voters (9 points), voters making over $100,000 a year (8 points) and blacks (7 points).

Here is what the exit polls said about the Barack Obama-John McCain contest::

New York Times:

• The exit polls showed that, nationally, twice as many Obama voters (56 percent) were excited about him as McCain voters (28 percent) are excited about their candidate

CNN:

• Obama led McCain among Hispanics 67 percent to 30 percent. In 2004, Bush drew 40 percent of that vote. in his home state, McCain trailed Obama among Hispanics 61 percent to 36 percent. In Florida, where Cuban-Americans have traditionally moved the Hispanic vote behind Republicans, Obama is winning 57 percent to 42 percent.
• Twenty percent of voters said race was an important factor in their decision and Obama won among those 55 percent to 44 percent.
• Twice as many voters said McCain's age was an important factor as those who cited race, and they voted for Obama 78 percent to 21 percent.
• Voters under 29 backed Obama by more than 2 to 1.
• Sixty percent said Sarah Palin was not qualified to be President.
• The number of late-deciders was small. Only 7 percent said they made up their minds in the last three days.

Associated Press

• Six in 10 voters name the economy as the top issue.
• None of the other issues - energy, Iraq, terrorism or health care - was picked by more than one in 10.
• Half of voters said the economy was poor and nearly all the rest said it was not good.
• Half of voters are very worried the economic crisis will harm their family's finances and a third were somewhat worried.
• More than half oppose the $700 billion government bail-out plan.
• Two-thirds of voters were worriewd about being able to afford health care.
• One in 10 voters said they were casting ballots for the first time and 6 in 10 were under 30.
• Message to pollsters: a quarter of new voters don't have landlines at home, only cell phones.
• Six in 10 voters said future appointments to the Supreme Court were an important factor in their decision.
• Two-thirds of voters favor drilling for oil in offshore waters where it is currently not allowed.

CBS News:

• Three-quarters of voters said the country was on the wrong track and almost as many disapproved of the performance of President Bush and Congress.
• Thirty-six percent of voters were looking for a candidate who can bring change, and 30 percent said they wanted someone who shared their values.
• Sixty-six percent of voters saw McCain as the candidate running the most negative campaign and only 48 percent say Obama has attacked McCain unfairly.
• Voters believed Obama was more in touch with people like themselves by 57 percent to 40 percent.
• Sixty percent said McCain had the experience to be President compared to 50 percent for Obama.

ABC News:

• Turnout of black voters was 13 percent, just slightly higher than in 2004.

Here are updates that include polls published Friday through today in our round-up of match-ups between John McCain and Barack Obama. Also, we have changed several race ratings:

• Arkansas from "Leans Republican" to "Republican Favored."
• Arizona from "Republican Favored" to "Leans Republican."
• Connecticut from "Democrat Favored" to "Safe Democrat."
• Georgia from "Republican Favored to "Leans Republican."
• New Hampshire from "Leans Democrat" to Democrat Favored."

• New Mexico from "Leans Democrat" to "Democrat Favored."

  • North Dakota from "Leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite."
  • Oregon from "Leans Democratic" to "Safe Democratic."

  • Washington State from "Leans Democratic" to "Safe Democratic."

  • Alaska: McCain 46.6, Obama 43.9. (Hays Research); McCain 58, Obama 39. (Research 2000)

  • Arkansas: McCain 51, Obama 44. (ARG)
  • Colorado: Obama 49, McCain 44. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon); Obama 54, McCain 44. (Public Policy Polling)
  • Florida: Obama 49.2, McCain 48. (Zogby);Obama 50, McCain 48. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 47, McCain 45. (Quinnipiac); Obama 47, McCain 45. (Mason-Dixon); Obama 50, McCain 46. (ARG)
  • Georgia: McCain 50, Obama 48. (Public Policy Polling); McCain 52, Obama 45. (SurveyUSA); McCain 47, Obama 44. (Research 2000); McCain 52, Obama 47. (Rasmussen)
  • Illinois: Obama 60, McCain 38. (Rasmussen)
  • Indiana: McCain 50.4, Obama 45.1. (Zogby); Obama 49, McCain 48. (Public Policy Polling); McCain 48, Obama 48. (ARG); McCain 47, Obama 47. (SurveyUSA)
  • Iowa: Obama 54, McCain 37. (Des Moines Register); Obama 55, McCain 40. (SurveyUSA)
  • Kentucky: McCain 56, Obama 40. (SurveyUSA); McCain 56, Obama 39. (Research 2000)
  • Maine: Obama 56, McCain 43. (Rasmussen)
  • Michigan: Obama 55, McCain 42. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 50, McCain 38. (EPIC -MRA)
  • Minnesota: Obama 49, McCain 46. (SurveyUSA); Obama 53, McCain 38. (Research 2000); Obama 57, McCain 41. (Public Policy Polling)
  • Missouri: Obama 48.8, McCain 48.8. (Zogby); Obama 49.4, McCain 48.6. (Public Policy Polling); McCain 48, Obama 48. (SurveyUSA)McCain 47, Obama 46. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon); McCain 50, Obama 47. (InsiderAdvantage/Politico)
  • Montana: Obama 48, McCain 47, Paul 4. (Public Policy Polling); McCain 48, Obama 44. (Research 2000)
  • Nevada: Obama 53.2, McCain 42.4. (Zogby); Obama 51, McCain 47. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 47, McCain 43. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon)
  • New Hampshire: Obama 53, McCain 42. (WMUR/UNH); Obama 53, McCain 42. (SurveyUSA); Obama 50, McCain 41. (Strategic Vision); Obama 51, McCain 44. (Research 2000); Obama 51, McCain 44. (Rasmussen)
  • New Mexico: Obama 58, McCain 41. (Public Policy Polling)
  • North Carolina: McCain 49.5, Obama 49.1. (Zogby); Obama 50, McCain 49. (Public Policy Polling); McCain 49, Obama 46. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon); Obama 48, McCain 48. (InsiderAdvantage/Politico); Obama 45, McCain 38. (Elon University)
  • Ohio: Obama 49.4, McCain 47.4. (Zogby); Obama 48, McCain 46. (SurveyUSA); Obama 51.5, McCain 45.7. (University of Cincinnati); (Obama 50, McCain 43. Quinnipiac); Obama 50, McCain 48. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 52, McCain 46. (Columbus Dispatch); McCain 47, Obama 45. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon)
  • Oregon : Obama 54, McCain 42. (Rasmussen); Obama 55, McCain 39. (Research 2000). Obama 57, McCain 42. (Public Policy Polling)
  • Pennsylvania: Obama 52, McCain 43. (SurveyUSA); Obama 51.2, McCain 41.4 (Zogby); Obama 51, McCain 44. (Strategic Vision); Obama 52, McCain 42. (Quinnipiac); Obama 53, McCain 45. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 52, McCain 44. (Muhlenberg); Obama 51, McCain 45. (ARG); Obama 51, McCain 47. (Rasmussen)
  • South Carolina: McCain 52, Obama 44. (SurveyUSA)
  • South Dakota: McCain 53, Obama 44. (Rasmussen)
  • Virginia: Obama 51.7, McCain 45.3 (Zogby); Obama 50, McCain 46. (SurveyUSA); Obama 47, McCain 44. (NBC News/Mason-Dixon).
  • Washington State: Obama 55, McCain 40. (Strategic Vision)
  • West Virginia: McCain 55, Obama 42. (Public Policy Polling)
  • Wisconsin: Obama 53, McCain 40. (Strategic Vision); Obama 55, McCain 39. (SurveyUSA).
  • Wyoming: McCain 61, Obama 36. (Research 2000)

Also, check out CQ Politics Presidential election maps which give you four different ways to look at the race, including one that lets you build your own electoral scenario.

Here's what some of the last national polls of the campaign are saying:

Barack Obama is leading John McCain 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters with 2 percent preferring someone else and 5 percent undecided in a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Nov. 1-2. The margin of error is 3 points. Among all registered voters, Obam's lead is 48 percent to 43 percent. The last Fox poll in late October put Obama's lead at only 3 points.

Obama is leading McCain 53 percent to 42 percent among likely voters with 2 percent preferring neither or someone else and 3 percent undecided in a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Oct. 3`1 - Nov.2. The margin of error is 2 percent. Among all registered voters, Obama's lead is 53 percent to 40 percent.

Gallup says: "The trend data clearly show Obama ending the campaign with an upward movement in support, with eight to 11 percentage point leads among likely voters in Gallup's last four reports of data extending back to Oct. 28. Obama's final leads among both registered voters and likely voters are the largest of the campaign."

The final Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Nov. 1-2 had Obama leading 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters with 6 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.

"The poll shows some slight movement for McCain. But with just 48 hours left, it's going to be a challenge to make up the rest of the difference," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who conducts the survey with Democrat Peter D. Hart.

Obama holds a 49 percent to 42 percent lead over McCain among likely voters in a Pew Research Center survey conducted Oct. 29 - Nov. 1. One percent each favored Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr and 7 percent were undecided. While Obama's margin is still significant, he had led by 15 percent in the Pew poll conducted Oct. 23-26. Among all registered voters, Obama's lead is 50 percent to 39 percent compared to 52 percent to 36 percent in the previous survey.

Obama is leading McCain 53 percent to 46 percent among likely voters in the final CNN/Opinion Research poll before Election Day. The poll was conducted Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 and has a margin of error of 3.5 points.

Here are our latest updates from yesterday and today on Senate races around the country from Nov.1 and Oct. 31. Today's addition is the Main race between Republican incumbent Susan Collins and Rep. Tom Allen.

• Alaska: Begich 49.3, Stevens 42. (Hays Research); Begich 58, Stevens 36. (Research 2000)
• Colorado:Udall 53, Schaffer 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Georgia.: Chambliss 48, Martin 46, Buckley 4. (Public Policy Polling); Chambliss 48, Martin 44, Buckley 5. (SurveyUSA); Chambliss 47, Martin 46, Buckley 5. (Research 2000); Chambliss 53, Martin 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research); Chambliss 48, Merkley 43. (Rasmussen)
• Kentucky: McConnell 53, Lunsford 45. (SurveyUSA); McConnell 47, Lunsford 44. (Research 2000); McConnell 51, Lunsford 44. (Rasmussen)
• Maine: Collins 57, Allen 41. (Rasmussen)
• Michigan: Levin 58, Hoogendyk 36. (Public Policy Polling)
• Minnesota: Coleman 44, Franken 39, Barkley 16. (SurveyUSA); Coleman 43, Franken 40, Barkley 15. (Research 2000); Franken 45, Coleman 40, Barkley 14. (Public Policy Polling); Franken 41, Coleman 37, Barkley 17. (MPR/Humphrey Institute)
• New Hampshire: Shaheen 48, Sununu 42. (WMUR/UNH); Shaheen 53, Sununu 40. (SurveyUSA); Shaheen 52, Sununu 42, Blevens 2. (Research 2000); Shaheen 52, Sununu 44. (Rasmussen)
• New Jersey: Lautenberg 52, Zimmer 37. (SurveyUSA)
• New Mexico: Udall 58, Pearce 39. (Public Policy Polling); Udall 56, Pearce 41. (Rasmussen)
• North Carolina: Hagan 51, Dole 44, Cole 3. (Public Policy Polling); Hagan 44, Dole 37. (Elon University); Hagan 53, Dole 44. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Oregon: Merkley 48, Smith 42. (Research 2000); Merkley 51, Smith 43, Brownlow 4. (Public Policy Polling); Merkley 49, Smith 46. (Rasmussen)
• Virginia: Warner 59, Gilmore 35. (SurveyUSA); Warner 63, Gilmore 35. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• West Virginia: Rockefeller 58, Wolfe 40. (Public Policy Polling)
• Wyoming: Barasso, 60, Carter 35. (Research 2000)
• Wyoming: Enzi 62, Rothfuss 35. (Research 2000)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Barack Obama is leading John McCain 54 percent to 41 percent among likely voters with 4 percent undecided in a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted Oct. 28-31. The margin of error is 3 points.

Fifty one percent of voters say Obama would make the economy better as President compared to 29 percent for McCain. The two are statistically tied when it comes to who voters think will raise their taxes.

About one in five voters say they have already cast their ballot and they favored Obama by 57 percent to 38 percent.