Here are updates from yesterday and today in our match-ups between John McCain and Barack Obama:

• Arizona: McCain 49, Obama 41. (Northern Arizona University)
• Arkansas: McCain 54, Obama 44. (Rasmussen)
• California: Obama 61, McCain 34. (Rasmussen)
• Colorado: Obama 50, McCain 46. (Rasmussen)
• Florida: Obama 50, McCain 43. (Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg); Obama 49, McCain 44. (Suffolk); Obama 47.2, McCain 46.9. (Zogby); Obama 51, McCain 47. (Rasmussen)
• Indiana: McCain 50.2, Obama 44. (Zogby)
• Iowa: Obama 52, McCain 42. (Marist)
• Louisiana: McCain 50.6, Obama 38.3. (Southeastern Louisiana University)
• Mississippi: McCain 53, Obama 45. (Rasmussen)
• Missouri: Obama 48.2, McCain 45.7. (Zogby); Obama 48, McCain 47. (Rasmussen)
• Montana: McCain 48, Obama 44. (NBC/Mason-Dixon)
• Nevada: Obama 48.2, McCain 44. (Zogby)
• New Hampshire: Obama 50, McCain 45. (Marist); Obama 55, McCain 39. (WMUR/UNH); Obama 50, McCain 39. (NBC/Mason-Dixon)
• New Jersey: Obama 53, McCain 38. (Strategic Vision)
• Nevada: Obama 50, McCain 46. (Rasmussen)
• North Carolina: Obama 49, McCain 48, Barr 1. (Public Policy Polling); Obama 49.7, McCain 46.4. (Zogby); McCain 49, Obama 48. (Rasmussen); Obama 47, McCain 47. (NBC/Mason-Dixon)
• Ohio: Obama 49, McCain 40. (Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg); Obama 49.7, McCain 45.1 (Zogby); Obama 49, McCain 45. (Rasmussen); Obama 49, McCain 45. (SurveyUSA)
• Oregon: Obama 57, McCain 38. (SurveyUSA)
• Pennsylvania: Obama 50, McCain 41. (Temple); Obama 53, McCain 46. (Rasmussen)
• Vermont: Obama 57, McCain 36. (Research 2000)
• Virginia: Obama 53, McCain 44. (Washington Post/ABC News); Obama 52, McCain 43. (SurveyUSA); Obama 52, McCain 44.8. (Zogby); Obama 51, McCain 47. (Rasmussen)
• Washington State: Obama 55, McCain 34. (University of Washington)
• Wisconsin: Obama 50, McCain 41. (Strategic Vision)
• West Virginia: McCain 50.3, Obama 40.4. (Zogby)

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 is our latest update on Senate races around the country.

• New Hampshire: Shaheen 49, Sununu 38. (WMUR/UNH)
• North Carolina: Hagan 48, Dole 45, Cole 4. (Public Policy Polling)
• Oregon: Merkley 49, Smith 42, Brownlow 5. (SurveyUSA)
• Virginia: Warner 61, Gilmore 31. (Washington Post/ABC News); Warner 63, Gilmore 32. (SurveyUSA)

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

Barack Obama is leading John McCain 53 percent to 40 percent with 1 percent preferring some other candidate and 6 percent undecided. in a Newsweek poll conducted Oct. 22-23. The margin of error for all adults is 3.6 percent for registered voters. Obama had led by 11 earlier this month and was tied with McCain in Newsweek's Sept. 10-11 poll. Obama's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 62 percent to 32 percent while McCain's is 50 percent to 44 percent.

The biggest demographic and party identification gaps are Obama's 8 point lead among independents, his 13 point lead among women, his 63 point lead among non-whites, and double-digit leads among voters under 64. McCain's biggest advantage is his 65 percent to 29 percent lead among white evangelicals.

If voters could cast ballots separately for Vice President, Joseph Biden would beat Sarah Palin 54 percent to 37 percent. She is viewed unfavorably by 46 percent of voters and favorably by 44 percent. Twenty-two percent of voters said the choice of Palin as running mate made them "a lot less likely to vote for McCain." They said by 55 percent to 40 percent that she was not qualified to step in as President. Voters say by 57 percent to 35 percent that Palin is not well-informed on foreign policy. And while 70 percent find her personally likeable, voters say by 47 percent to 39 percent that she has mostly made unfair personal attacks on her opponents on the campaign trail. As far as the now-famous $150,000 shopping foray Palin made with the help of RNC money, 68 percent said it did not affect their image of her as a reformer with small town values while 27 percent said it did.

Polls from the Washington Post/ABC News, Harvard University's Institute of Politics and Gallup underline Barack Obama's strength among younger voters.

The Post/ABC poll says Obama leads McCain by 12 points among white voters under 30, a group that John Kerry lost by 10 points in 2004.

The Harvard poll, conducted Sept. 12 - Oct. 6, says voters in the 18-to-24 group favor Obama by 56 percent to 30 percent with 15 percent undecided. Forty percent of these voters said McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate made it less likely that they would vote for the ticket compared to 19 percent for Joseph Biden. Sixty percent said the choice of Biden made no difference to their decision while only 35 percent said that of Palin.

John McCain has cut some of the gap between himself and Barack Obama on who Americans think better understands the nation's economic problems, but Obama still leads 53 percent to 44 percent with 1 percent either preferring someone else or no one at all, and 2 percent with no opinion in a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Oct. 16-19. The margin of error is 2.5 percent. Obama had led McCain by 31 points on the economy issue last week, but the poll says McCain's efforts to focus on the economy at the debate and on the campaign trail have cut that to 19 points.

McCain's "I am not President Bush" retort to Obama at the debate helped push down somewhat the number of voters who think McCain would likely continue the policies of President Bush. Last week, they held that view by 52 percent to 45 percent, and the new poll says voters now believe it by 49 percent to 48 percent.

The McCain campaign and Republicans have sought to tie Barack Obama to what they see, and what voters to see, as some unseemly associations - the community organizing group Acorn which they accuse of voter registration fraud, and the '60s-era radical William Ayers. "We need to know the full extent of that relationship," McCain said during the final debate.

But a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Oct. 16-18 says voters, by a 60 percent to 37 percent margin, do not believe the Ayers connection is a legitimate issue. Their judgment is closer when it comes to Acorn with voters saying by 49 percent to percent the Obama campaign's association with ACORN is a legitimate issue.

Barack Obama has opened up a double-digit lead in yet another poll, running ahead of John McCain by 53 percent to 43 percent among likely voters with 1 percent preferring someone else, 1 percent supporting neither and 2 percent undecided in a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Oct. 8-11. The margin of error is 3 points. That's a 6 point jump from the poll conducted Sept. 29. A Newsweek poll released over the weekend had Obama ahead 52 percent to 41 percent.

Obama's favorable to unfavorable numbers are 64 percent to 33 percent, a positive swing of 9 points since early September, while McCain stands at 52 percent to 45 percent, a negative swing of 16 points. At the same time, President Bush's approval rating is 23 percent, below former President Nixon's lowest, and one point away from the record low registered by Harry Truman in 1952. Fifty-one percent of registered voters believe McCain would lead the nation in the same direction as Bush.

The economy and voters' dim view of the direction of the country are clearly driving Obama's success so far. Ninety percent of voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction. Nine in 10 are worried about the country's economic direction, nearly seven in 10 are worried about their families own finances and 55 percent call the economy the top issue in the campaign. The number of Americans who feel they'll have enough money to carry them through retirement has fallen from 69 percent three years ago to 44 percent.

Registered voters trust Obama over McCain on the economy by 53 percent to 37 percent. They say he better understands their economic problems by 58 percent to 28 percent and they trust him more to help the middle class by 59 percent to 31 percent.

Today we update Pennsylvania, California, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada and Minnesota in our round-up of general election match-ups between John McCain and Barack Obama. As with the latest national polls, the movement in these polls and the ones we posted yesterday appears to be mostly towards Obama. A Time/CNN/Opinion Research poll said McCain was struggling in states that President Bush won in 2004 such as North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana.

Visit our 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 a summary of our race ratings categories. Use this link for background on how we arrive at them

• No Clear Favorite, for races that are deemed to close to call.
• Leans Democratic and Leans Republican, for highly competitive races in which the named party is perceived to have at least a slight edge, but in which an upset is a highly plausible possibility.
• Democrat Favored and Republican Favored, for races in which the named party has a clearer advantage and is likely to win, though an upset cannot be completely ruled out.
• Safe Democratic and Safe Republican, for races in which the named party is viewed as certain to win.

Six in 10 of registered voters doubt Sarah Palin's qualifications to be President and fewer than half believe she has a grasp of complex issues, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Sept. 27-29. ABC's analysis of the results said: "In advance of her debate against Joe Biden tonight, Palin now looks like more of a drag than a boost to the GOP ticket."

The Post/ABC poll reflects similar findings in other national polls, like one published yesterday by the Pew Research Center and the Associated Press-GfK, as well as battleground state surveys by Public Policy Polling and Quinnipiac University.

The number of voters who said that John McCain's choice of Palin made it less likely they would vote for him rose from 19 percent on Sept. 4 to 32 percent in the Post/ABC survey. Twenty-three percent said they are more likely to vote for McCain because she is on the ticket, about the same number as in early September, and 45 percent said it would make no difference.

Barack Obama's margin over John McCain has narrowed to 50 percent to 46 percent compared to the 9 point lead he enjoyed a week ago in a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Sept. 27-29. The margin of error is 3 points and the numbers include likely voters and leaners. Obama appears to be getting a boost from greater voter trust in him to handle the economy, in the wake of the worsening financial crisis. For President Bush, it's the opposite: 70 percent of voters said they disapproved of his performance, the highest number so far, and 74 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the economy.

If Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr are factored into the race, Obama leads 48 percent to 45 percent with 2 percent for Barr, and 3 percent for Nader.

Voters trust Obama more to handle the economy in general by 50 percent to 43 percent and the financial crisis in particular by 50 percent to 40 percent. But that's less than the 14 point advantage he had on the economy last week and the 13 point spread between him and McCain and handling the financial crisis. But when it comes to better understanding "the economic problems people in this country are having," Obama leads 55 percent to 36 percent.

Thirty-eight percent of voters said Obama won the first presidential debate, 24 percent picked McCain, 22 percent called it a draw and 16 percent had no opinion.