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Mitt Romney and President Obama are pretty close in national polls, but what really matters is who's winning in the right states. Right now, voters think Romney has better ideas for the economy -- but they don't know what they are. And while Americans want more guns, they also want more gays. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.
Findings: Karl Rove has released his general election map looking at which states Obama and Romney will be fighting for this fall, and right now, he finds 17 states with a total of 225 Electoral College votes "up for grabs." But if you look at the map, there are a lot of important states leaning in favor of Obama, who can win reelection without winning Florida and Ohio.
Analyst: Karl Rove & Co.
Methodology: Polling averages.
Why it matters: Karl Rove has a pretty good track record with such maps, Slate's Dave Weigel writes: "In 2008, his week-to-week update of the electoral college map was spot-on, and correctly calculated the margin John McCain would lose by."
Caveat: Of course, everything Karl Rove writes about politics is viewed through the question of whether he's being sincere, or if he's saying the opposite of what he believes to mess with Democrats, or if, knowing that Democrats suspect him of messing with them, he's saying what he actually believes in order to double-mess with them like Vizzini in Princess Bride.