VIRGINIA: Obama holds onto lead

A new Quinnipiac University poll confirms the growing consensus that Virginia is going to be very tough for Mitt Romney.

Not only does Barack Obama beat him, 47%-42%, but he's ahead on some key internals, as well.

a. Indies give the president a 45%-37% advantage (remember, indies also give VA Gov. Bob McDonnell a +15% approval rating, so clearly, McDonnell's popularity isn't rubbing off too much on the presidential race).

b. Women pick Obama by an astounding 16%, while men only choose Romney by 5%. Some people would call this a "gender gap,"

c. There's also a "favorability gap" among indies. Romney's favs are at -12% with the group, while Obama's are at +2%.

d. Romney is absolutely killing Obama with whites in nearly every category (one example: he's at +13% fav rating with whites, while Obama is at -15%. That's a 28% advantage for Romney), but the state's growing minority population overwhelmingly supports Obama.