The IBD/TIPP tracking poll has been suspended until Hurricane Sandy passes, but the other polling firms are still cranking out the results like clockwork.
Today's national poll roundup shows Republican challenger Mitt Romney still on top in most polls.
The Gallup daily tracking poll puts Romney 5 points ahead of President Obama, 51 to 46 percent. That poll has fluctuated between a 2-point and 7-point lead for Romney over the last week.
The Rasmussen daily tracking poll also gives Romney the lead, though only by 2 points, 49 percent to 47 percent.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll, which had shown exclusively Obama-leads until last week, has Romney up by a point, 49 percent to 48 percent.
A new Pew Research poll shows the race tied, at 47 percent even. The last Pew poll after the first presidential debate was the first in a landslide of polls signaling Romney's comeback. That it has the race a dead heat is bad news for either candidate.
The Politico/George Washington University/Battleground poll actually has Obama up by a point, 49 percent to 48 percent, a result echoed by Sunday's IBD/TIPP poll, which showed Obama with 45 percent support to Romney's 44 percent.
There is no coherent direction that the majority of national polls are moving in, which likely means that overall, there hasn't been much change in the state of the race.
We are seeing movement in the swing state polls, however. While both candidates seemed to be securing their bases, a few polls in Ohio and Florida look like those states are again swinging back to the middle, which would bring state polls more in line with the national polls, and decrease the chances of an Electoral College/popular vote split.
But Hurricane Sandy may have more of an effect on the election than expected. Obama has suspended campaigning to return to Washington to oversee responses to the storm.
The result could go in either direction. Perhaps the additional unopposed campaigning time will help Romney overcome his deficit in some crucial swing states.
However, the image of the president responding, well, presidentially, in a crisis might resonate among voters. There's nothing like a natural disaster to pull a partisan electorate together. And unlike a terrorist attack or other man-made calamity, no one can blame the president for the hurricane.
After this blows over, Obama will likely remind the public that Romney wanted to defund the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If he does a good job in coordinating hurricane relief, I think Sandy will actually help him come Election Day.
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