Here are some tips for reading the polls and a few links to blogs that will let you follow the US election closely in the final six days to Election Day November 4, 2008.

Follow what’s happening with the Electoral College (remember that U.S. voters vote for the 538 electors of the Electoral College , NOT for the President)

How the candidates are doing in the Electoral College is more important than how they are doing in the popular vote. Al Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 election, but George W. Bush became President because he won the Electoral College.

Barack Obama is leading by a substantial margin in the Electoral College. That is why many US commentators are already declaring him the winner despite his small and fluctuating lead in the popular vote.

For example, this morning, October 29, 2008, the Real Clear Politics site is giving Obama 311 Electoral College votes to McCain’s 157 Electoral College Votes. This means that even if McCain won all 70 remaining “toss-up” votes, he would still lose to Obama.

The blogs below provide updated Electoral College counts all day as state-by-state polls come in from various polling companies.

If you are short on time, I recommend just checking the Real Clear Politics site. This is a highly respected Republican/right wing site that is generally regarded as the standard. If you are an Obama supporter, you can be assured that the data on this site will be presented in the most dispassionate light. If you are a McCain supporter (what’s the matter with you ?!!!) you can find articles and data which present his campaign in the best possible light……

Blogs with Electoral College calculators :

Real Clear Politics (this highly recommended site tracks all Senate races as well as the Presidential race)

Politico (this is an excellent site which has also has constantly updated blogs which cover both campaigns)

FiveThirtyEight (this is a pro-Obama site for hard core stats-and-polls junkies only)

Talking Points Memo (this is a Democratic site that follows Senate and House races as well as the Presidential race)