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Iowa: No Longer a Toss-Up? 8:00 a.m. E.T. Iowa appears to have lost its toss-up state status, according to a Sunday Des Moines Register poll showing Barack Obama has widened his lead to 17 points here, getting 54% of the vote compared to John McCain's 37%, up from his 12-point lead in September. The Register's Iowa Poll also shows Obama leading by 23 points among all-important independent voters, who make up 32% of Iowa's 2.1 million registered voters (Democrats are 32%; Republicans, 28%.) Other recent polls put Obama ahead...
...McCain campaign advisor Charles Black has been touting a much closer race - reportedly within one or two points - based on internal party polling in Iowa. But J. Ann Selzer, a leading local pollster whose company Selzer & Co.Inc of Des Moines, does the Register's poll, is skeptical. "I say show me the numbers. It sounds impossible to me," says Selzer. "I would question who are they counting as a likely voter, whether they are weighting by party ID and those weights might be outweighed. There just isn't a scenario that makes it look like this is very close...
Still, despite Obama's lead in the polls here, there is a feeling that Iowa is still in play, judging from the intensity of the campaigning. Obama drew 25,000 people to a Des Moines rally on Friday. Sarah Palin was in Dubuque Monday afternoon. Palin and McCain also visited Iowa in October. Local staffers and volunteers are still working furiously, canvassing, working the phones and there are robo-calls galore. I got one from Michelle Obama! - By Betsy Rubiner / Des Moines...
...McCain supporters were also going door-to-door across the state in a last minute push to reach likely voters. "We're very confident in Virginia because we are closing strong. We have a 20,000-strong, 72-hours volunteer force going door to door. Phone banks are full from morning to evening. We're seeing a lot of momentum and we are encouraged," says Gail Gitcho, McCain's mid-atlantic regional communications director. - By Kris Osborn...
...pictures of John McCain's final push on the campaign trail...