Pepe Escobar
Asia Times ^[1]
Oct 22, 2012

LOS ANGELES – It’s tight. It’s awfully tight. But way beyond demented pollmania permeating every nook and cranny of the multibillionaire election circus – coupled with the torrential vomiting of the Spin Machine scary monsters and super freaks – these are the stark facts.

To become the next president of the United States (POTUS), Mitt Romney’s got to win Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Virginia and Arizona.

As it stands, hours before the foreign policy debate this Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, Barack Obama maintains a slight lead, 3 to 2 (Ohio, Colorado and Arizona versus Virginia and Florida where, until recently, he was also leading; now, according to Nate Silver’s projections, Romney’s chance of winning Florida are at 66%).

Still, Obama is relatively comfy on top in Iowa (66%), New Hampshire (63%), Nevada (73%), Pennsylvania (89%) and Wisconsin (80%).

The Obama slide had been relentless, non-stop, ever since the first debate; it was only barely reversed for the past three days. Even so, Romney must win all these swing states if he can’t swing Ohio, which is leaning towards Obama by 70%.

Mitt “Binders Full of Women” will come out all (Libyan) guns blazing at the last debate because he cannot afford to lose anywhere. Ultimately, if he doesn’t swing those undecided Ohio ladies, the fat lady herself will sing.

Full article here ^[1]