While it wasn't all good, today's final results showed that: (1) things are moving in the right direction in the tracking polls; and (2) state polls show Obama is still where he needs to be.
Today, in the 5 national tracking polls, Obama led in 3. That's the first time he has done that in several days! The margins:
Rand Poll- Obama +4
Reuters/Ipsos- Obama +1
IBP-TIPP- Obama +0.7
Gallup- Romney +2
Rasmussen- Romney +2
I know many of you are concerned about Gallup (not Rasmussen so much because most view it as a Republican outfit). But remember this about Gallup: in 2010- it was WAY off in predicting "likely voters": It said Republicans would win by 15 points (which probably would have resulted in a 100+ seat gain). Instead, they won by only 6 points.
So Gallup has had some "likely voter" issues.
In the state polls, the news was mostly good, or at least, not terrible.
-- A Republican pollster had Obama WINNING by 2 in Colorado (an improvement from right after the debate when he trailed).
-- PPP found Rmoney led by 1 in Florida. Not good for sure, but MUCH better than the 7 point deficit in another poll a few days ago. This shows Obama is competitive in Florida, and can win it with a good debate performance.
--A Georgia poll found Obama trailing 51-43. Again, not great. but if he is only down 8 in Georgia, this doesn't suggest a collapse: it's similar to his 5 point deficit in 2008.
In closing, these polls today don't really matter. What really counts will be the polls after the debate. So in the meantime, let's campaign, campaign, campaign AND donate!
LATE UPDATE: Obama down by 2 in NC, 49-47 (PPP). Again, not bad at all (Romney only a 2 point gain!)
Also, Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight, RAISED Obama's electoral college chances again (slightly), up to 63.1%!