US blogwatch: Nerves and dirty tricks... it’s the final countdown

After Sandy, the political storm has resumed. Mitt Romney was on the road in Virginia yesterday — a state he must win — with aggressive rhetoric against Barack Obama, says NBC news’s political unit on firstread.nbcnews.com.

In Florida, the Republican candidate’s campaign has been running a Spanish-language TV ad that claims Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro’s niece would vote for the Democrat President.

That Mr Romney is having to campaign so hard in both states is a sign of nervousness, says Politico.com’s Mark Allen: “Both sides are nervous, but Republicans are MORE nervous.”

Mr Obama returns to the trail in Ohio today with a 0.1 per cent lead on the

realclearpolitics.com average of national polls, amid positive media reaction to his handling of the Sandy aftermath. The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz quips on @BorowitzReport: “In addition to spending billions on ads, another way politicians can get votes is by doing their jobs well.”

*Ever feel overpolled? There were 17 swing state polls yesterday. The washingtonpost.com reports that in Virginia, “the Obama and Romney campaigns have contacted — by phone, email or in person — 44 per cent and 41 per cent of likely voters, respectively”. Dailykos.com’s Jed Lewison reports that one Ohio station showed 22 political ads during a half-hour news bulletin.

At fivethirtyeight.com Nate Silver puts Mr Obama’s chances of winning at 80.9 per cent, citing slim but solid leads in Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. Silver tweeted ex-Republican congressman and NBC presenter Joe Scarborough, who has been needling him: “If you think it’s a toss-up, let’s bet. If Obama wins, you donate $1,000 to the American Red Cross. If Romney wins, I do. Deal?” Scarborough declined.

*In the closing days, turnout is all, rather than winning over undecided voters. But there are claims of attempted Republican “voter suppression”. Molly Ball writes in theatlantic.com of Democrat nervousness over alleged dirty tricks, including billboards intimidating voters about having to take ID to the polls, automated phone calls telling them they can vote by phone — they can’t — and mailshots giving the wrong election date.