Today’s Election News Roundup

Ill. Sen. Barack Obama has opened a 10-point lead on his rival Ariz. Sen. John McCain, illustrating that voters are comfortable with his race, background and experience and feel that he is prepared to lead. These were the major factors concerning most undecided voters, according to The Wall Street Journal.

International polling shows that 70 countries across the world favor Sen. Obama 4 to 1. Obama garnered more than 60 percent support in countries like Canada, Australia, Germany, England and Japan.

Sen. Obama held a job summit in Florida to address voter concerns in a more intimate setting than the typical campaign stop. The Democratic candidate used the meeting as an opportunity to criticize Sen. McCain’s economic outlook, noting that the senator “has failed to fully acknowledge” the extent of the economic crisis.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is accused of charging over $21,000 to the state for family airfare. She has also run up thousands of dollars in hotel room bills to bring her girls with her on trips to which they were not specifically invited: Palin then amended tax records to claim their travel as official state business.   

Early voting this year has worked in favor of Obama as more Democrats have shown up to the polls in Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico, according to state and county figures.

The GOP team has jumped at the opportunity to criticize Biden’s remark that, “The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Watch, we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” Sen. McCain told a campaign rally, “We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars,” while Palin stated, “[Biden] told Democrat donors to mark his words—that there were ‘at least four or five scenarios’ that would place our country at risk in an Obama administration. I guess we’ve got to say, ‘Thanks for the warning, Joe!'”

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.