Presidential Polls Virginia: Latest Data Shows Obama, Romney In Close Race
Only one day remains in the 2012 presidential election, and as the country prepares to hit the polls and elect its next president, a group of important battleground states that could ultimately decide the election have taken center stage.
According to The Huffington Post's Electoral College map projection, which is based on an analysis of various nationwide and state by state polling data, the five states still in the toss up pile as of Saturday are Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire North Carolina and Virginia.
Those states represent a total of 70 electoral votes - a hefty sum considering each candidate needs a total of 270 electoral votes to successfully win the election. That sum would be incredibly valuable to either candidate, based on The Huffington Post's current projection, which has President Barack Obama at 27 electoral votes and Mitt Romney at 191 votes.
In Virginia, a total of 13 electoral votes are up for grabs to the candidate who can carry the state on Election Day on Nov. 6.
The edge in the race in Virginia currently goes to President Obama, according to The Huffington Post's data. The Democratic incumbent is presently polling at 49 percent in Colorado, while his Republican challenger is at 47 percent.
Obama is somewhat likely to pull out a victory in Virginia considering he won there in 2008. That year, Obama beat John McCain in Virginia, 53 percent to 46 percent.
But the state did go red in the two elections before that. George W. Bush won the state in 2004, when he beat John Kerry, 54 percent to 46 percent, and he also triumphed in 2004 against Al Gore, 53 percent to 44 percent.
But data from national polling firm Rasmussen tells a different story.
In that poll, Romney has support from 50 percent of Virginian voters surveyed, while Obama lags behind with support from 48 percent. Of the remaining respondents, 1 percent plans to vote for another candidate and 1 percent is still undecided.
Rasmussen's data also shed light on how voters in Virginia think of the candidates in relation to the economy.
"While the economy remains the number one issue on voters' minds as they go to the polls, neither candidate has convinced voters in the state that he is clearly the better alternative," the report said. "Forty-six percent think the economy will get better if Romney is elected and Republicans take over Congress, but only slightly fewer (40 percent) say the same is true if Obama is reelected and Democrats take charge of Congress."
