Hold Off on Those Obama Victory Predictions

Polls always tighten right before an election, no matter how far ahead the front-runner is. But I still refuse to jump on the MSM bandwagon and predict with impunity that Tuesday will bring a landslide victory for Sen. Barack Obama. Two new polls reported by Politico.com show McCain gaining in two swing states. Most important, from my perspective, is that one of them is Missouri, which has gone against the presidential victor only one time since 1904 (and that was for Adlai Stevenson of neighboring Illinois).

So with that in mind, I point your attention to the following:

Barack Obama and John McCain are evenly matched in the swing states of North Carolina and Missouri, though Obama is strongly outpacing McCain in two of those states' crucial battleground counties, according to new Politico/InsiderAdvantage polls.

In North Carolina, Obama and McCain were tied with 48 percent of the vote. Only 3 percent of voters in the state remain undecided. In Missouri, McCain led Obama 50 percent to 47 percent, an edge that was within the margin of error.

The only prediction I have made, and with which I shall stick, is that Tuesday is going to be a long, long night.