Five things in particular seem to be giving Obama the edge in this election: the debates, the economy, Sarah Palin, more money to spend, and a better ground game.
Obama 'won' the debates, according to the post-debate polls. This is a big change from, say, 2000, where Al Gore was excruciatingly bad in the debates, compared to the fresher, if glib, George W. Bush.
The financial, and now broadly economic, crisis of the last month is definitely helping Obama as well, forcing many middle and working-class folks to ignore some other factors, such as race, and focus on something where Democrats seem to be more trusted.
While Sarah Palin has clearly reved up the Republican base, especially the Christian Right, she has also alienated many independents, who find her 'aw-shucks' manners to be off-putting and her intellectual inadequacies and total lack of national or international experience or even interest to be, for all intents and purposes, disqualifying, at least for now.
Having the money to put into both ads and organization has given Obama a real edge, and this is in part a result of his internet saavy and his glamour as a candidate.
Finally, Obama's experience as a community organizer allowed him to put organizers on the ground to get more people to the polls to vote.
Together, these advantages should allow Obama to win, even though we remain a country severely polarized and divided politically and ideologically, and even though Obama's racial and international roots are something that some people are still having trouble swallowing.
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