A series of polls in some of the most critical swing states paints a bleak picture for Republican challenger Mitt Romney's chances to win the presidency on Tuesday.
While a Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald poll in Florida showed Romney with a 6-point lead over President Obama, that was the lone bright spot for Romney.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll in the state gave Obama a 2-point advantage, 47 percent to 49 percent.
Romney is slightly favored to win Florida, but it is a state he can't afford to lose. It's 29 electoral votes bridge much of the gap between his current vote total and the 270 electoral votes he needs to secure the White House.
Obama leads in polls coming out of Iowa, Colorado, Virginia and New Hampshire, states that had been either evenly split or leaning toward Romney in recent weeks.
But the worst new for the Republican comes out of Ohio.
An NBC/WSJ/Marist poll there gives Obama a 6-point lead over Romney, 51 percent to 45 percent.
In addition, two polls out on Friday from Ohio show Obama leading, while another shows a tie between the candidates.
Romney has held the lead in only a single poll in Ohio in the last three weeks. Even in the aftermath of Obama's first presidential debate performance, Romney has been unable to take the lead in poll aggregates in the crucial swing state.
No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio, and Romney's options for cobbling together enough electoral votes to win without it are dwindling.
Even if Romney succeeds in wresting Florida back from the Democrats after their victory there in 2008, he is still 35 electoral votes shy of 270.
As the map stands now, there is no way for Romney to without Ohio, unless the polls are very far off in states that have polled consistently blue for most of the campaign.
Even if Romney takes Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire, he still falls 3 votes short.
And even if he does take Ohio, he would need to shore up his support in Virginia, which refuses to budge off the fence, as well as win one additional state.
New Hampshire is his best bet there, but that's a lot of dominos that must fall Romney's way.
To the Romney campaign's dismay, FiveThirtyEight has increased its odds for an Obama victory on Tuesday. They now stand at 83 percent.
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