Rasmussen: Obama opens up solid lead in Virginia

That Quinnipiac poll earlier this week showing Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in Virginia by a comfortable 8% was no outlier.

A new Rasmussen survey shows the POTUS jumping to a similar 9% lead in the state, 51%-42%.

For much of this cycle, Republicans were a slight favorite to retake the state with Romney as nominee, but thanks to the state's relatively strong economy and a drop in Romney's favorability, you'd have to call Obama the slight favorite again.

Btw, my wife and I drove up the Northern Neck of VA last week. Incredibly ugly, especially on a cloudy day. Bleak but not Frank Miller-cool bleak. Bleak like meatloaf at Golden Corral just before closing.