The excitement and anticipation is growing every day. Who will Obama pick for VP?

Every name floated out there gets support from some and opposition from others. So, who do YOU want most? Don't say who you THINK Obama will pick. Who do you want among the named frontrunners and legitimate darkhorses?

In a poll that is sure to spin many heads in the punditsphere, white working class voters support Barack Obama over John McCain by 10 points, or 47-37.

These are not union voters. And they are not Democrats. They are all white working class voters.

One of the overarching questions among pollsters this year is why the tracking polls show a closer race than all of the stand-alone polls. One of the reasons cited is that the trackers don't call people back, so they continually get the same kinds of voters who answer the phone on the first pickup. That automatically limits the  sample a bit (and eliminated cell-only users).

I just wanted to alert people to the Knoxville Relief Fund. The injured will require long-term medical care. Fortunately, the medical statuses of some of the victims has been upgraded. Tammy Sommers, a friend of mine who was shot in the head and was in critical yesterday yesterday has been updated to serious condition. She is now responding to verbal cues. We are all relieved that her status is improving.

Today, the Rasmussen tracking poll shows Obama leading by 5 with leaners, 49-44.

It's the first time Obama hit 49% and had a 5-point lead since July 8. It's worth noting that Obama hovered around 49 through the month of June after his post-primary bounce.

I figured the polls would show some movement to Obama at some point and I was discouraged to see Rasmussen show the race as tight as ever. But Gallup today, with two nights polling after Obama's trip began and last night as one of the strongest in the season, shows Obama up 47-41

I admit that I watch Fox News now and then.  It's like watching a trainwreck - I can't look away. But the semi-serious weekend news shows can sometimes be revealing in ways that neither O'Reilly's buffoonery or CNN's placidity can not.

My family and I took a huge road trip out West this past month. From our home in East Tennessee we went through Memphis, Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Texas Pandhandle, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, southeast Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and back to Tennessee. It was a wonderful family trip and we saw tons of national parks along the way.