Obama To Show Missouri A Patriotism Speech
Barack Obama will be at the Harry Truman Memorial Building in Independence, Missouri, where he will deliver a speech this morning on "what patriotism means to him and what it requires of all Americans who loves this country and want to see it do better," according to the campaign's morning e-mail to reporters. The event is clearly a key move to answer the McCain's recent push to tie every issue to the idea of patriotism, and the notion that McCain is a more loyal American. The doors open for the event at 10 a.m. ET.

John McCain In Pennsylvania Today
John McCain will be spending his time today in Pennsylvania, a major swing state that has not voted Republican for president since it went to George H.W. Bush in 1988, but where McCain is hoping to win working-class voters. McCain will be greeting supporters in Allentown, and then touring a sheet metal factory in Pipersville.

McCauliffe: Obama And Bill Clinton Will Talk Soon
Terry McAuliffe told CNN yesterday that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will finally talk to each other some time soon, and that Bill will be ready to campaign for Obama soon. "I believe that in the next 24 to 48 hours they will talk and off we will go," McAuliffe said.

McCain Camp: Obama Should Condemn Clark's Comments
John McCain's campaign is demanding that the Obama camp condemn remarks yesterday by Gen. Wesley Clark on CBS' Face The Nation, in which Clark said that McCain's having been shot down in Vietnam was not a qualification to be president. "If Barack Obama wants to question John McCain's service to his country, he should have the guts to do it himself and not hide behind his campaign surrogates," said retired Adm. Leighton Smith in a McCain campaign press release.

Poll: Dead Heat In Virginia
A new SurveyUSA poll of Virginia shows Barack Obama with a statistically insignificant lead of 49%-47%, with a ±4% margin of error. A little over a month ago, Obama had a 49%-42% lead. The vice presidential match-ups also show that Gov. Tim Kaine would not affect the margins, and that Sen. Jim Webb would potentially bring a net three points to the Dem ticket.

Poll: McCain Up By Ten In Georgia
A new Rasmussen poll of Georgia gives John McCain a 53%-43% lead, outside the ±4% margin of error. This is contrary to a recent InsiderAdvantage poll that gave John McCain only a one-point lead, and had native son Bob Barr's presence on the ballot significantly affecting the race. In this Rasmussen poll, Barr only gets one percent.

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.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton has two statements out proclaiming that his Georgia win is an early harbinger of the broad coalition he's been able to build.

There's this:

Obama's victory in Georgia was achieved through a broad coalition of voters. He not only increased his support among African American voters since South Carolina (78% in South Carolina to 86% in Georgia), but he dramatically improved his standing among white voters (from 24% in South Carolina to 43% in Georgia.)

And:

The win in Georgia tonight is Barack's strongest showing among female voters of any contest so far. In raw percentages, his highest showing so far has been 54%, in South Carolina. Adjusted for a two-way race, he would have gotten 64%. Tonight in Georgia, Barack got 64% of the vote among women, which made up 63% of the electorate.

Thanks for bearing with us during out technical difficulties today. Here's a roundup of the various state polls that came out today, and what sense of direction they give for the Democratic primaries tomorrow. The bottom line: Your guess is really as good as ours about what's going to happen.

Hillary Clinton appears to be on track for roughly 55% in the New York Primary:

Quinnipiac: Clinton 53%, Obama 39%

SurveyUSA: Clinton 56%, Obama 38%

PPP (D): Clinton 52%, Obama 32%

Barack Obama, meanwhile, looks to be on the verge of an even greater majority in his home state:

SurveyUSA: Obama 66%, Clinton 30%

More polls after the jump.

Read more »

This morning's set of Zogby tracking polls shows Barack Obama with clear momentum in the key primary states, with apparent leads in both California and Missouri, plus a big one in Georgia:

California:
Obama 46% (+1)
Clinton 40% (-1)

Georgia:
Obama 48% (+0)
Clinton 31% (+3)

Missouri:
Obama 47% (+4)
Clinton 42% (-2)

New Jersey:
Clinton 43% (+0)
Obama 43% (+1)

Zogby credits Obama's movement to a "big Sunday bounce," but we'll find out soon enough whether that keeps up into Monday and, most importantly, the Tuesday election itself.

Barack Obama spoke today at Atlanta's famous Ebenezer Baptist Church, the home church of Martin Luther King, Jr. In his speech, he discussed the need for unified action in solving the social problems of our time. "We have walls - barriers to justice and equality - that must come down," Obama said. "And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour."

Obama also singled out the black community itself in his call for moral change: "We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity."

The full text of the speech is available here.

The new poll in Georgia by the GOP firm Strategic Vision shows Mike Huckabee shooting to the top. Huckabee has 23% support, Fred Thompson 20%, Rudy Giuliani 17%, John McCain 11%, and Mitt Romney 10%. Huckabee was at only 7% in the last Strategic Vision poll of Georgia, back in October. His newfound support seems to have come almost entirely from his fellow Southerner Fred Thompson, who was at 39% back then.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has 34%, Barack Obama 27%, and John Edwards 12%. In October, Hillary had 40%, Obama an identical 27%, and Edwards 11%.

In addition, GOP Senator Saxby Chambliss easily beats all his Democratic challengers, winning by greater than 2-1 ratios.

A new poll of Georgia from Republican firm Strategic Vision shows Hillary Clinton and Fred Thompson leading their respective primaries by comfortable margins.

On the Democratic side, Hillary has 40%, followed by Barack Obama with 27% and John Edwards at 11%. Among Republicans, Thompson leads with 39%, followed by Rudy at 20%, and no other candidate over ten points.

Also, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) leads all his Democratic opponents by margins of around 30 points.

The good polling news for Hillary keeps on coming this morning, with a new round of polling from American Research Group showing her ahead in Georgia and Missouri.

Hillary leads Obama in Georgia by 10 points, 35%-25%, with Edwards at 17%. And in Missouri she has 40%, with Edwards in second at 22% and Obama at 15%.

Meanwhile, among Republicans, Fred Thompson is beating Rudy in Georgia, 35%-25%, and statistically tying him in Missouri, where Rudy has 23% to Thompson's 22%.