Today’s Election News Roundup

The most recent Gallup poll shows that Senator Obama’s approval rating has jumped to a 6 point lead.

Dawn Turner Trice of the Chicago Tribune argues that Sen. Obama’s historic nomination does not put an end to the battle for civil rights, writing that it, “does not diminish the need for activism on behalf of social justice.”

Arizona Senator John McCain plans to announce his VP pick today, in a move that may cast a shadow over the momentum Ill. Sen. Barack Obama garnered during his historical acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last night.

Senator McCain released a commercial last night congratulating Senator Obama on his historic nomination.
 

Republicans have managed to retain national attention during the Democratic National Convention by airing campaign ads and keeping buzz up about Sen. McCain’s potential VP pick. The party rumored that McCain might leak the information Thursday, keeping political pundits tuned-in as they covered the DNC.

The findingDulcinea 2008 Election Web Guide highlights the best online resources relating to the candidates and the election.

Project Vote Smart describes the process of nominating a presidential candidate, with concise descriptions of the convention, caucuses, primaries and the process of awarding delegates.

An overview of the role of delegates and superdelegates is presented by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Daily coverage of the 2008 Election is gathered from media sources across the political spectrum and presented by Real Clear Politics to provide up-to-the-minute coverage. The site publishes daily political transcripts, including addresses on the campaign trail and withdrawal speeches. It also constantly updates and compares polling reports from Rasmussen, Gallup, CNN, Pew Research, and other major media sources. Additionally, the site provides a 2008 Primary Delegate Count, which presents the delegate counts of each candidate.

NPR provides an interactive calendar of past primaries. Headline stories that detail the events of the primaries and campaigns accompany the primary map. In addition, NPR hosts a “National Delegates Total,” with an ongoing count of delegates won by each candidate.

Minnesota Public Radio’s online “President Survey” matches the political convictions of respondents with the candidates’ policies in order to help voters make an informed choice come election day.

The New York Times publishes a constant stream of articles from the Associated Press. These concise AP stories cover new developments on the campaign trail.

As election momentum picks up, the Times of London offers British readers a glossary of campaign jargon that will be of use to many Americans as well.

OpenSecrets.org compares the total campaign donations for each candidate and looks into the war chests to see where the money comes from.