On election night the state I’m going to be watch is Virginia, which fortunately will be one of the first states to report. How Virginia goes will probably tell us who has won the evening.

When I first heard news in the beginning of the summer of a coup underway at the University of Virginia, I wondered idly if it had anything to do with climate change—specifically, ousted (and since reinstated) President’s Teresa Sullivan’s defense of the former UVA professor behind the “hockey stick” graph documenting its existence against state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli’s demands for every email/paper/grant application/log/cocktail napkin/etc. he touched during his seven years at the school.

Mitt Romney currently has a five point lead in Colorado, according to the most recent Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News Swing State Poll. While Romney leads in Colorado, Obama still holds the advantage in Virginia and Wisconsin.

The fight over the automatic trigger cuts, which will take place at the end of the year without Congressional action, took an interesting turn this week. The Senate passed a bill that will force the Obama Administration to provide details on how they will implement the cuts. This bill has already passed the House with a broad majority, and the President has indicated that he will sign it. But politically, it puts him – and Congress – in some trouble.

President Obama currently holds an impressive eight point lead over Mitt Romney in Virginia, and he is effectively tied with Romney in North Carolina, according to new polling by PPP. The lead in Virginia has been solid and steady, while North Carolina has been a toss up for months.

A flood of new Senate polling holds mixed news for Democrats as they try to retain control despite a very unfriendly map.

President Obama holds a solid seven point lead over Mitt Romney in Virginia, according to a new Washington Post poll.

It looks like President Obama has a good chance of winning Virgina again this election. He currently holds an eight point lead over Mitt Romney in the state, according to Public Policy Polling. his popularity in Virginia has remained decent. Virginia has done relative well during the economic downturn, with official unemployment of just 5.6%.

Even though the President has been essentially albeit unofficially campaigning for months with events that just happen to be in strategic battleground states, next week he will attend his first two official public rallies of the 2012 election. The locations for the kick-off of Obama 2012 are Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia.

If we’re seeing any renaissance in American politics at the moment, it comes from a backlash against an ever-advancing policy against the ability for women to think and make choices for themselves. Women — and the men who respect them — have had enough of conservative overreach, and we’re seeing a real and sustained pushback.