BILL BACKS OBAMA, JOE'S VP DEBUT; YOUNG HOLDING ON IN ALASKA; LOTS OF SENATE, GOV & HOUSE POLLS.

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. Barack Obama officially became the Democratic Presidential nominee, with Senator Hillary Clinton interrupting the delegate roll call to personally move Obama's nomination be made unanimous by acclimation. Former President Bill Clinton enthusiastically jumped onto the Obama bandwagon on Wednesday, giving a rousing pro-Obama speech at the convention. Senator Joe Biden also gave a VP acceptance speech which praised John McCain's record of service but blistered his political stances. Biden clearly relishes taking up the traditional runningmate role of being the ticket's attack dog.

P2008 - DAILY POLLING UPDATE. Here is our daily update of the latest independent state polls on the Presidential race:
COLORADO (CNN/Time/Opinion Research): McCain - 47%, Obama - 46%, Others - 1%.
FLORIDA (Mason-Dixon): Obama - 45%, McCain - 44%.
FLORIDA (Strategic Vision-R): McCain - 49%, Obama - 42%, Barr - 1%.
NEVADA (CNN/Time/Opinion Research): Obama - 49%, McCain - 44%, Others - 1%.
NEW MEXICO (CNN/Time/Opinion Research): Obama - 54%, McCain - 40%.
OHIO (Univ. of Akron): Obama - 40%, McCain - 40%.
PENNSYLVANIA (CNN/Time/Opinion Research): Obama - 48%, McCain - 43%, Others - 1%.
RHODE ISLAND (Brown Univ.): Obama - 53%, McCain - 30%.

ALASKA. With 99.8% of the vote counted, embattled 18-term Congressman Don Young (R) moved into a 152 vote lead over Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell in the GOP primary. State election officials say several thousand requested absentee ballots have not yet been returned and any ballots postmarked by primary day will be counted so long as they are received within ten days of Tuesday's primary. Thus, we won't know until late next week whether Young or Parnell is the Republican nominee. The winner will face former State House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz (D) in November.

US SENATE. Here are the latest independent polls for US Senate races.
NORTH CAROLINA (ARG): Former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) - 52%, US Senator John Sununu (R) - 41%.
NORTH CAROLINA (PPP-D): State Senator Kay Hagan (D) - 42%, US Senator Elizabeth Dole (R) - 39%, postal worker Chris Cole (Libt) - 5%.

CONGRESS. Here are the latest independent polls for US Senate races.
KANSAS CD-2 (SurveyUSA): Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (D) - 50%, State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins (R) - 43%, Others - 5%.
MICHIGAN CD-7 (EPIC/MRA): Congressman Tim Walberg (R) - 43%, State Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer (D) - 40%.
MICHIGAN CD-9 (EPIC/MRA): Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R) - 43%, ex-State Senator Gary Peters (D) - 36%.
PENNSYLVANIA CD-10 (SurveyUSA): Congressman Chris Carney (D) - 49%, businessman Chris Hackett (R) - 45%.

GOVERNOR. The new independent polls for the gubernatorial contests:
NORTH CAROLINA (PPP-D): Lt. Governor Bev Perdue (D) - 43%, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) - 38%, college professor Michael Munger (Libt) - 4%.
NORTH CAROLINA (Civitas-R): Lt. Governor Bev Perdue (D) - 43%, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) - 41%, college professor Michael Munger (Libt) - 3%.
UTAH (Mason-Dixon): Governor Jon Huntsman (R) - 73%, businessman Bob Springmeyer (D) - 9%.

Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 08.28.08