Polls, Polls, Polls

Read, interpret, and invest in these numbers at your own peril. My take is that the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remains ever-fluid, and that, at best, the aggregate polls represent two-or-three-day-old trends. In other words, they show something that may or may not be accurate by the time you actually see them. That said, they're the only booze in the liquor cabinet, so, like the incurable lushes we are, we drink them up just the same.

The first batch of numbers comes to us from the latest LA Times/Bloomberg findings:

Pennsylvania

Clinton 46
Obama 41

North Carolina

Obama 47
Clinton 34

Indiana

Obama 40
Clinton 35

Sticking with the state of Pennsylvania for a moment, here's what Rasmussen's tea leaves say:

Clinton 50
Obama 41

Survey USA, a polling institution badly in need of a new web designer, sees:

Cinton 54
Obama 40

Strategic Vision, winner of the coolest name for a P.R. firm, has the Keystone State leaning:

Clinton 49
Obama 40

And Quinnipiac puts the race a bit more in line with the LA Times:

Clinton 50
Obama 44

Now, on to the less meaningful national snap shots.

Gallup's latest shows:

Obama 51
Clinton 40

Rasmussen:

Obama 50
Clinton 41

ABC/WaPo:

Obama 51
Clinton 41

The ever unreliable Zogby (with Reuters providing cover):

Obama 51
Clinton 38

Alright, now that you have all this information, crumple it up and throw it in the bin. Today's mood should be ready for viewing in, say, two or three days. By then it will be stale, and available at half-price.