Barack Obama will end his general election campaign in the same state he started it 5 months earlier -- Virginia, the Washington Post reports. The exact location for the Monday night Northern Virginia rally has not been determined yet, though it will likely take place in the exurban city of Manassas Park or Prince William County.

This will be Obama's 11th trip to Virginia -- including two this week and once last week -- since securing the nomination in early June.

The exurban counties of Northern Virginia -- Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford -- are ones to watch on election night. Combining their votes, Pres. Bush won them by a double-digit margin in 2004 and Gov. Tim Kaine (D) won them in 2005.

New CBS News/NY Times national poll of likely voters (Oct 25-29) shows Obama with an eleven point lead over McCain, down two points from their previous poll:

Obama 52 (nc vs. last poll Oct 19-22)
McCain 41 (+2)

Overall, Obama leads by5.9% in the RCP National Average.

Also of note, from the write up of the survey:

In all, 11% of likely voters are now uncommitted -- they have not yet chosen a candidate, or their minds could still change.

As in the last poll, these voters are mostly white, and 57% are 45 or older. Just over half are women, and most live in the Midwest and South, with just under half in rural areas. Two thirds have not graduated from college, and more than half have incomes of $50,000 or more.

Uncommitted voters are not ideologues or strong partisans. 44% describe themselves as independents, while fewer call themselves Republicans (32%) and even fewer still are Democrats (24%). More than half are moderates. But they are Bush voters; 50% of them voted for George W. Bush in 2004 (just 32% supported John Kerry).

John McCain has no time to waste, apparently. He's blowing through Ohio at lightning speed, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mark Naymik, who's on the road with him.

ELYRIA -- John McCain made another brief stop this afternoon during his two-day bus tour of Ohio, speaking for about 11 minutes to a crowd of several hundred people.

As he did in Sandusky, he introduced Joe the Plumber (Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher). He gave an abbreviated version of his earlier speech in Defiance, accusing his rival, Barack Obama, of planning to raise taxes, expand government and spread others' wealth.

McCain will be touring the state tomorrow as well, including a stop in Columbus with the governor of California. History shows the importance of Ohio to Republican candidates, as none have won the White House without winning the state. Democrats have -- most recently in 1960 and 1944 -- though not often. Obama currently has the advantage, with a 5.8-point lead in the RCP Average.

Apparently the McCain-Palin ticket has Georgetown all wrong, according to the Politico's Sarah Abruzzese:

Taking another swing at Washington “elites,” John McCain suggested last week that a “Georgetown cocktail party” is the last place you'd ever see Sarah Palin.

Maybe.

Georgetown is still a neighborhood full of well-educated, well-paid Democrats — McCain-Palin signs are about as common there as dead moose and snow machines — but residents say the high-brow cocktail parties of McCain's memory have given way to family-friendly events that just might suit a mother of five.

“Right now, at our stage in life, with a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, most of our parties revolve around chicken nuggets and mac and cheese,” says George Stephanopoulos, Georgetown resident, former Clinton adviser and host of ABC's “This Week.”

Who knew George Stephanopoulos was Georgetown's "Joe Six-Pack"?

Barack Obama's 30-minute primetime TV ad was seen in 21.7% of households in the top 56 local media markets, according to Nielsen. By comparison, Between 34.7% and 42.0% of households watched the three debates between Obama and John McCain. More than 31% of households in Baltimore watched the telecast, the highest percentage for any market.

UPDATE: Nielsen reports that 33.5 million people watched Obama's ad across seven stations between 8 and 8:30 ET last night.

The governor of that very important battleground state stars:

The ad is running in Vermont ... ha, no, in Florida of course.

A new Fox News national poll shows Obama leading McCain by 3 points (Oct. 28-29, 924 LV, MoE +/- 3.0%). The poll released a week ago had Obama up 9 points.

Obama 47 (-2 vs. last poll, Oct. 21-22)
McCain 44 (+4)
Und 6 (-2)

Obama leads by 6.1 points in the RCP National Average

*Other highlights from the poll: Bush's approval rating (30%); Congress's generic approval rating (18%); candidates' fav/unfav numbers (Obama: 56/40; Biden: 55/37; McCain: 54/42; Palin: 49/46).

"Rearview Mirror"

"Something"

With five days until the election, Obama leads by 4 points in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, and by 7 points in Ohio, according to new Allstate/National Journal polls conducted Oct. 23-27 by FD.

Colorado (409 RV)
Obama 48
McCain 44

Obama leads by 6.5 points in the RCP Average for Colorado

Florida (402 RV)
Obama 48
McCain 44

Obama leads by 3.5 points in the RCP Average for Florida

North Carolina (402 RV)
Obama 47
McCain 43

Obama leads by 2.5 points in the RCP Average for North Carolina

Ohio (404 RV)
Obama 48
McCain 41

Obama leads by 5.8 points in the RCP Average for Ohio

Virginia (404 RV)
Obama 48
McCain 44

Obama leads by 6.5 points in the RCP Average for Virginia

From today through Election Day, Obama will visit at least seven states prior to returning to Chicago to vote, watch the returns, and -- he hopes -- celebrate at Grant Park. According to Obama's public schedule, all of the states he'll visit were won by Pres. Bush in 2004.

Today, Obama goes from Sarasota, Florida, to voter-rich Virginia Beach, Virginia., and on to Columbia, Missouri. Tomorrow he'll visit Des Moines, Iowa, and Democrat-voter rich northwestern Indiana -- within the Chicago media market. On Saturday, Obama will visit Henderson, Nevada -- just south of Las Vegas -- and Pueblo, Colorado. Public events for Sunday and Monday have not yet been announced.