Blue Spot

Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Poll: Obama, McCain Split Pa., Ohio, Florida Sen. Barack Obama leads Sen. John McCain in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, but is virtually even with him in Ohio and trails in Florida, according to the findings in simultaneous polls in those key states by Quinnipiac University.

Two months ago, Sen. Obama led in Quinnipiac polling in all three of those big states. The tightening of the race in those states, traditional battlegrounds for both parties, reflects the tightening found in national polls in recent weeks.

The findings also reflect the importance for the Democrats of winning Pennsylvania, native state of Sen. Joseph Biden, the Obama pick for vice president. Pennsylvania would be crucial to Democratic hopes if Sen. Obama were to fail in the other two key states. One of the hopes the Obama camp held in picking Sen. Biden was that his profile as a native son of Scranton, Pa., would be of help in that state.

The polling was mostly finished before Sen. Biden’s pick was announced, though, so it’s impossible to tell whether the choice has had any effect in Pennsylvania.

The Quinnipiac polling finds Sen. Obama with a 49% to 42% lead in Pennsylvania, unchanged from late July.