POLL WATCH:UNLESS THE mood changes quickly, Republican John McCain must now win every single one of the so-called "battleground" states if he is replace George Bush in the White House next January, writes Mark Hennessy
The difficulties facing McCain are heightened by the fact that the "battleground" tag now attaches to states such as Virginia and Indiana that have not voted Democratic since 1964.
None of the 19 states won by John Kerry in 2004 would now be won by McCain using any one of the dozens of polls featuring in the frenetic run-up to the November 4th election.
McCain, or the Democrat Barack Obama, needs 270 of the 538 votes in the Electoral College held by the 50 states and the District of Colombia to capture the White House on November 4th.
Nationally, Obama, according to 13 tracking polls, leads by between three and nine points, while the latest CBS figures put him ahead by 14.
In each of the states won by Kerry four years ago, Obama now leads by more than seven points - well outside of the margin of error, which allows him to divert resources to other states in search of gains.
In Colorado, where the Democrats have made gains in the legislature and governor's office since Bush won it by five points in 2004, Obama now leads by between four and five points.
A Republican candidate has never won the White House without Ohio - the state which decided the 2004 result, but even here McCain today lags by between two and five points.
With 20 electoral college votes, Ohio is one of the areas worst affected by the subprime crisis that has seen homes bought there for $160,000 now failing to sell for $5,000.
Obama's campaign in Indiana is helped by the fact that it borders his home state of Illinois, and he finished a strong second there to Hilary Clinton in May's Democratic primary.
In Florida, a swing state with a large elderly population which might be inclined to favour McCain and where Jews have been slow to get behind Obama, the Democrat still leads by five points.