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Democrat Barack Obama widened his lead in three big battleground states, boosted by his performance in the first presidential debate, worsening economic jitters, and increasing skepticism about GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, according to new polls released this morning.

Obama's surge is particularly pronounced in Pennsylvania, where he led Republican John McCain by 49 percent to 43 percent before Friday's debate, but leads by 54 percent to 39 percent in the new Quinnipiac University surveys.

In Florida, Obama's edge grew from 49 percent-43 percent to 51 percent-43 percent. And in Ohio, his lead increased from 49 percent-42 percent to 50 percent-42 percent.

While more than 80 percent of voters in each state said the debate didn't change their minds, Obama was the clear winner by 13 percentage points to 17 percentage points, the polls found. The pre-debate surveys started Sept. 22 and ended at 8 p.m. Friday, an hour before the debate, while the post-debate polls were conducted on Saturday through Monday, Quinnipiac said.

Obama has been surging over the last month, now crossing the 50 percent threshold when he had been trailing in the three states in polls released Sept. 11.

"It is difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swung so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign. In the last 20 days, Sen. Barack Obama has gone from seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement. "Sen. John McCain has his work cut out for him if he is to win the presidency and there does not appear to be a role model for such a comeback in the last half century."

Quinnipiac notes that no one has been elected president since 1960 without winning at least two of these three states, which combined have 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the White House.

UPDATE: Another series of battleground state polls out this afternoon also show Obama gaining ground and taking the lead in Missouri and Virginia.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. surveys show Obama leading McCain 54 percent to 43 percent in Florida among registered voters, up from a tie at 48 percent two weeks ago; also ahead 54 percent to 43 percent in Minnesota, up from 53 percent to 41 percent a month ago; up 50 percent to 45 percent in Missouri, flipping McCain's edge three weeks ago; leading 54 percent to 43 percent in Nevada, up from 49 percent to 44 percent last month; and ahead 54 percent to 42 percent in Virginia, reversing McCain's lead three weeks ago of 50 percent to 46 percent.

Obama's leads among likely voters are slightly smaller in the CNN polls. But the results among registered voters could be more telling in a year when many first-time and new voters cast ballots during the primaries -- people who wouldn't necessarily qualify as likely voters.

The formula is simple: more government = less of everything else, including employment. Obama’s class war rhetoric and monstrous power grabs have terrified employers into battening down the hatches, and his grotesquely extravagant spending spree has sucked all the money out of the free market economy. What other effect on employment could anyone expect from putting an authoritarian statist weaned on Marxism into the White House?

CBO Paints the Real Unemployment Picture

As the “mainstream” media predictably tells us that the economy is charging back and unemployment is all better now in the run-up to Obama’s reelection, let’s check in with reality to see what unemployment is like there. From the Congressional Budget Office (PDF):

Pwns wrote:Obama is going to be hammered if gas prices go up as much as expected this summer.

kalm wrote:

Pwns wrote:Obama is going to be hammered if gas prices go up as much as expected this summer.

Well naturally. It will be his fault after all.

Seahawks08 wrote:Or it's the Middle East's fault? Or speculators? The president always catches too much shit for gas prices imo.

Steven Chu, obama’s energy secretary said he wanted gas prices to be same at Europe's, $7 to $9 a gallon.

CitadelGrad wrote:He won't win Missouri. I guarantee it. Claire McCaskill is running for Senate re-election and there is going to be a big turnout against her.

kalm wrote:

Pwns wrote:Obama is going to be hammered if gas prices go up as much as expected this summer.

Well naturally. It will be his fault after all.

CitadelGrad wrote:

kalm wrote:
Well naturally. It will be his fault after all.

Actually, it will be.

kalm wrote:

CitadelGrad wrote:
Actually, it will be.

I am sure.

TheDancinMonarch wrote:McCain? How 'bout some 2012 news?

Skjellyfetti wrote:

TheDancinMonarch wrote:McCain? How 'bout some 2012 news?

Was in response to BDJK posting a ~month old poll in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

True with most presidents but none before him have said they wanted it to happen

Steven Chu, obama’s energy secretary said he wanted gas prices to be same at Europe's, $7 to $9 a gallon.

CID1990 wrote: That you think a 1 month old poll somehow has as little validity as a 4 year old poll

Skjellyfetti wrote:

CID1990 wrote: That you think a 1 month old poll somehow has as little validity as a 4 year old poll

Yeah, that's it.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

TheDancinMonarch wrote:McCain? How 'bout some 2012 news?

Was in response to BDJK posting a ~month old poll in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Skjellyfetti wrote:Didn't realize BDK's thread would drop like a rock and this thread would get all the attention.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

TheDancinMonarch wrote:McCain? How 'bout some 2012 news?

Was in response to BDJK posting a ~month old poll in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BDKJMU wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:
Was in response to BDJK posting a ~month old poll in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No- on Feb 16 I posted a poll that came out on Jan 29. An 18 day old poll at the time, about 2.5 weeks, not a month. So in your world 18 days = 1 month?