Three national polls are out today with different pictures of the race, although none of them are particularly good news for Barack Obama. There has also been a series of state polls in the last two days which showed the Democrat having difficulty gaining any ground.

The George Washington University Battleground 2008 survey conducted Aug. 10-14 has John McCain in a dead heat with Obama leading him 47 percent to 46 percent with 2 percent preferring "other" and 19 percent undecided. The poll is conducted jointly by the Republican Tarrance Group and the Democratic firm of Lake Research Partners.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey conducted Aug. 15-18 says McCain now trails Obama by only 45 percent to 42 percent in, down from the 6 point leads Obama held in June and July. Four percent answered "neither" and 8 percent were undecided. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.

And a Reuters/Zogby poll conducted Aug. 14-17 has McCain moving out front 46 percent to 41 percent with 13 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3 points. Last month, Obama had led by 7 points.

These three polls come on the heels of yesterday's Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey that had Obama and McCain in a statistical tie, with Obama ahead 45 percent to 43 percent in a survey conducted Aug. 15-18. The margin of error was 3 points.

When you combine these with match-ups of McCain and Obama in eight competitive states for which polls came out yesterday and today, a picture emerges of an Obama campaign - at least at this point - losing some of the luster it had after he clinched the nomination, and either just holding his ground or slipping in the polls.