A new set of polls from the Carolinas show that both of these states could be close this Fall, despite the fact that neither has voted Democratic since Jimmy Carter was the South's favorite son in 1976.

The new North Carolina poll from SurveyUSA: McCain 50%, Obama 45%, with a ±3.8% margin of error.

And here's Public Policy Polling's (D) survey of the much more conservative South Carolina: McCain 45%, Obama 39%, and Bob Barr 5%, with a ±4.2% margin of error. The X-factor here is Barr, as much of his vote would presumably have gone to McCain in a two-way race.

MoveOn To Pressure Obama On FISA Bill
MoveOn.org, which endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries, is clearly not happy with his decision to support the new FISA bill that includes lawsuit-immunity for the telecom companies. They now calling upon their members to demand that Obama keep his October 2007 promise to filibuster retroactive immunity.

Obama Plans To Wear Down McCain With 50-State Campaign
The Obama campaign is planning to leverage its expected fundraising might into a campaign unlike any we've seen in modern times, with advertising on everything from the Olympics to targeted cable channels like MTV, and paid staff in every state. Indeed, the campaign doesn't expect to win every state they'll compete in -- but they do expect to force the lesser-funded McCain campaign to have to pour resources into those locations.

Michelle Obama Wooing Former Hillary-Backing Women
Michelle Obama is quickly emerging as a key campaign surrogate for winning over women voters and activists who previously supported Hillary Clinton. On Friday, Mrs. Obama flew to Washington and delivered a speech to the National Partnership for Women & Families -- and paid special tribute to particular audience members who had been major Hillary-backers.

McCain Hoping To Avoid Bob Dole's Mistakes
The New York Times notes this morning that while John McCain and Bob Dole seemingly share many attributes -- war heroes who became the oldest non-incumbent nominees for president -- McCain is working hard to avoid the mistakes that bedeviled Dole's disorganized campaign. McCain's campaign does not include any of Dole's top advisers, and he is actively seeking to be more in the public eye and up close with with voters in town halls, as opposed to the aloof Dole campaign of 1996.

Brokaw Is The New Interim Host Of Meet The Press
NBC announced today that Tom Brokaw has been selected to be the new host of Meet The Press from now until Election Day. "I've been appearing on Meet the Press since the days of Watergate when it was moderated by Lawrence E. Spivak right through the distinguished tenure of my great friend, Tim Russert, so I feel right at home," Brokaw said in a press release.

GOP Fears Nader Effect From Bob Barr
Major Republicans are worried that Libertarian nominee Bob Barr, the former Georgia GOP Congressman who has turned against the Iraq War, could siphon conservative voters who are unhappy with the party's recent turn to big government. Georgia Rep. John Linder, who defeated Barr in a 2002 primary forced by redistricting, predicted that Barr could get at most four percent of the vote, "But in some states that may be enough."

In a further sign of just how wide the political playing field is set to be this fall, a new poll finds that Barack Obama may well be able to win Georgia, a state that voted twice for George W. Bush and by healthy margins.

The numbers from InsiderAdvantage: McCain 44%, Obama 43%, within the ±5% margin of error. Some key numbers: Bob Barr, the former right-wing Georgia Congressman turned Libertarian nominee, is getting six-percent support, which otherwise would have probably gone to McCain. Also, InsiderAdvantage estimates that blacks will make up 29% of the electorate, up from 25% in 2004 exit polling.