The Tightening

Pollster's latest:

Yglesias has argued convincingly in the past that most of the poll fluctuation we're seeing is statistical noise, and the convention next week will give Obama a bump. It's also silly to focus on the horse race before the most volatile period in any campaign. But this nugget from the LAT/Bloomberg poll has to be worrying:

More striking, however, is the drop in Obama's favorable rating. It has slid from 59% to 48% since the June poll. At the same time, his negative rating has risen from 27% to 35%. The bulk of that shift stems from Republicans souring on Obama amid ferocious attacks on the Democrat by McCain and his allies.

...As Obama's public image has eroded, McCain's ratings have remained steady: 46% of voters have a positive feeling about him; 38% give him negative ratings.