How the Southwest Was Won

. . . by Obama, that is.

To wit: check out this new poll from Arizona, which shows McCain's margin down to a mere 4 points.

Apparently there are some more polls coming that also show Obama closing the gap in McRage's home state. I don't think this is the tightening the McCain camp had in mind.

My friends doubted me a few weeks back when I said Arizona was perhaps a longshot for Obama, but I wouldn't include it on the list of states (such as Utah, Idaho, and Oklahoma) that he surely wouldn't win. My reasons? Demographically, the same factors that work to Obama's advantage in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada are at work in Arizona. Also, we hadn't had any polling in Arizona for nearly two months (since early September), and McCain didn't have a whopping lead then.

Now, if we could just get some fresh numbers in Alaska, please . . .