National polls show Barack Obama settling into a 3-6 point  lead with a modest bounce after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination.

Polls in battleground states continue to show a competitive race. A new South Florida poll of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties show Oabma up 16% on McCain . But in 2004, when George Bush won Florida by 5%, JohnKerry captured these same three counties by 19.4% .

A recent Rasmussen poll showed McCain up 8% in Florida, which is far more consistent with the South Florida poll than a Quinnipiac survey showing Obama up by 4% in Florida. Similarly, Rasmussen has Obama up 4% in Pennsylvana, and Quinnipiac had Obama up 12% in the state. The Rasmussen result is much moe consistent with the close national race than the Quinnipiac survey. While the Obama campaign is targeting many red states and seems ahead in a few of them- New Mexico, and Iowa in particular, McCain remains competitive in two large blue states- Michigan and Pennsylvania, and two large red states- Florida and Ohio.

Rich Baehr is The American Thinker's Political Director