Barack Obama's 'battleground' gains

by Mark Silva

As a backdrop for understanding the increasing intensity of the attacks in the presidential campaign underway, consider some new battleground polls:

Ohio: Barack Obama favored over John McCain by a margin of 49 to 42 percent in a Columbus Dispatch poll of 2,262 likely voters released Sunday.

The Sept. 24-Oct. 3 survey marks a reversal from a poll by the newspaper before the parties' nominating conventions, when McCain held a single percentage point advantage. The state is critical to McCain's campaign, as Bloomberg News reminds us, reporting on these battleground polls, because no Republican has ever won the presidency without carrying Ohio.

Minnesota: Obama holds an advantage of 55-37 in a poll of 1,084 likely voters published by the Star Tribune newspaper. The poll was conducted from Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Bloomberg notes that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota calls the Star Tribune poll "notoriously not accurate'' -- "Minnesota is a Democrat-leaning state, but not so much that it's implausible for a Republican to win here," Pawlenty said on ABC News' This Week.

Pennsylvania: Obama holds a 50-40 percent advantage over McCain, according to a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College tracking poll. The Muhlenberg College poll surveyed 597 likely voters Sept. 30-Oct. 3. A Franklin and Marshall College poll a few days ago showed an eight-point advantage for Obama there.

Colorado: A tie, according to a poll released by the Denver Post ..