Winning on the Web, Obama Turns to Xbox Advertising

(NEWSER) - Not all the polls are going in Barack Obama's favor. An AP-GfK survey says John McCain has closed the gap with Obama after the last debate by gaining voters among whites and those earning less than $50,000. The poll has the race at 44%-43% in favor of Obama, a statistical tie indicating that the "Joe the plumber" analogy resonated. The same poll placed Obama 7 points ahead of McCain three weeks ago, the AP reports. More»

Under 20% of workers are women—a demographic games have barely tapped, either

(NEWSER) - The video-game industry has yet to really tap into the female audience, the Los Angeles Times reports, and a big reason looks to be how male-dominated the business is. Women make up fewer than 20% of the industry’s total workforce, and a mere 3% of programmers. Some fault education, while others blame a “college fraternity” atmosphere, including recruiting parties that have strippers. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama may be pulling slowly away from John McCain, but he's the overwhelming choice among the pre-K through 12th grade set. In a Scholastic poll, 57% of 250,000 students picked the Dem, USA Today reports. And don’t write it off as youthful inexperience —the poll has an 88% accuracy rate, only twice failing to predict the real winner since 1940. Write-ins this year included Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, “My Dad,” and Stephen Colbert. More»

History shows that McCain can surge

(NEWSER) - With Obama pulling well ahead of the Straight Talk Express, "the 2008 campaign seems poised to enter its Harry Truman phase," writes Walter Shapiro in Salon. But a November comeback isn’t out of the question. Shapiro runs down four factors that could push McCain into the White House:

1. The elastic electorate: There are likely more “undecideds” out there than polls show. Plus, "it is ludicrous to believe that public opinion will be frozen in amber" for the next 3 weeks.

Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy

(NEWSER) - The 2008 presidential race is getting rough, but the combatants look well-mannered compared to mudslingers of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was called an “infidel” and an “unbeliever,” while John Adams was accused of possessing a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Although “everybody always assumes there was a golden age of presidential campaigning,” one historian tells the Washington Post, US politics have always been dirty. More»