Cheat Sheet

Not all polls have recorded the effect of the final presidential debate and the laugh-in at the Al Smith dinner on Thursday night, but John McCain seems to have reduced Barack Obama's lead by about 2 percent and is now behind 6.3 percent, Dick Morris writes. The Clinton critic and commentator crunches the data by comparing six polls on Real Clear Politics with a field date ending October 10-13 with seven subsequent surveys ending October 10-16, and concludes: “If the financial markets stop hogging the headlines and McCain exploits the tax and spending issue he developed (with the considerable aid of Joe the Plumber) it is very possible that he could close the race further, perhaps bringing it to a tie in the next ten days. This race is far, far from over!”