Close Contests in Four Key States

The latest Gallup tracking poll released Monday put Obama at 48 percent to 44 percent for McCain while a similar tracking survey from Diageo and the Hotline put Obama at 47 percent and McCain at 42 percent.

The closeness of the contest suggests that the 2008 election could well be a carbon copy of the narrow decisions in 2004 and 2000 when George W. Bush eked out victories over his Democratic challengers thanks to wins in the delegate treasure troves of Ohio and Florida, respectively.

Obama's efforts to expand the playing field have met with mixed results as he has pulled staff out of several states like Georgia, Alaska and North Dakota but remains competitive in several others that have been Republican redoubts in recent years.

In Colorado, where Democrats have made significant gains at the state and federal level in recent years, Obama looks well positioned to be the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to claim the Rocky Mountain State. Democratic Rep. Mark Udall holds a 48 percent to 40 percent edge over former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer in the state's open seat Senate race. In the closely contested Minnesota Senate race, GOP Sen. Norm Coleman holds a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over comedian Al Franken.

Virginia, too, looks like a potential pickup for Obama. A new Washington Post survey puts the Illinois Senator at 49 percent while McCain receives 46 percent. If Obama wins the Commonwealth, he would be the first Democrat to do so since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

While McCain's pick of Palin -- and the resultant flood of press coverage -- was painted as a game-changing moment in the campaign, there is a little evidence that the Alaska governor has fundamentally altered the contest.