The next month is going to go by so fast.  November 4th will be here before we know it.  There is very little time left for the candidates to do or say something that will make a large percentage of the voters change their minds.  It is time to really pay attention to the individual state polls.

The last time we looked at the swing states, they were Colorado 9 votes, Florida 27 votes, Indiana 11 votes, Michigan 17 votes, Missouri 11 votes, Nevada 5 votes, New Hampshire 4 votes, North Carolina 15 votes, North Dakota 3 votes, Ohio 20 votes, Virginia 13 votes and Wisconsin 10 – 12 States with a total of 145 votes up for grabs.

Michigan and New Hampshire have moved into Obama’s column, giving him another 21 Electoral College votes.

Right now, Obama has 269 Electoral College votes, one short of a victory.  McCain has 160, 110 short of a victory.

With the remaining swing states, Obama leads in Colorado with 9 votes, Florida with 27 votes, Missouri with11 votes, Nevada with 5 votes, North Carolina with 15 votes and Wisconsin 10 and McCain in Indiana with 11 votes, North Dakota with 3 votes and Virginia with  13 votes. Ohio is a tie.

The lead in these states right now ranges from 1 to 7%, so anything can happen and even some of the states that have been put in each of the candidates’ columns are there very tentatively, so anything can happen.  But if everything were to remain the way it is today, Obama would end up with 348 Electoral College votes and Mc Cain with 187, not counting Ohio.

With less than a month to go, we will watch the states day by day and try to see which way all of them are going and why. Will the remaining two Presidential debates make a difference? Or will one of the four make a catastrophic mistake, giving the election to the other team?  There are those who have been major players in the past who have not endorsed and candidate.  Would and endorsement from someone like Colin Powell at the last minute make a difference?

One thing for sure.  Each candidate has a different task ahead of him. McCain needs to come out full steam ahead and both he and his running mate cannot make any statements that can be turned around.  They cannot look desperate and as for Obama, he cannot become too over confident and complacent. He needs to keep the focus on not only what he will do, but how he will do it as well, something McCain/Palin has not done.