Obama Rides Bandwagon, McCain Counts On Turn-Out

John McCain's campaign has found a nice groove: he's got a populist economic message to contrast with his opponent, and he's got people questioning Obama's worldview (and how Obama sees America's role in the world) by linking him to his past associations.

John McCain now needs to drive turn-out--and he is trying to use tightening poll numbers to do it.

However, McCain's campaign groove has returned after multiple weeks of Obama enjoying good poll numbers, favorable press, and some prominent endorsements by Republicans. While Obama's campaign was urging voters to ride his bandwagon to what seemed to be an inevitable victory--early voting began across the nation.

The main questions now: can McCain's late charge overcome what appears to be an early lead by Obama in the pre-election day polling? Or has Obama's surge among normally unreliable voters been overstated?

There have been large lines of early voters in some states--and absentees are up. You can bet, however, that the McCain campaign is tracking whether these early voters are folks who always vote early--or if they are new voters driven to the polls by their passion for Obama.