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NOW Today: The electoral reality

Today on NOW, we're pulling out the electoral map.With the conventions behind us, there's a plethora of articles looking at the battleground states

Today on NOW, we're pulling out the electoral map.

With the conventions behind us, there's a plethora of articles looking at the battleground states that could determine this election. One of the best summaries comes from a POLITICO piece which reports that top advisers to Governor Mitt Romney concede that President Obama has an advantage in the race following his party's convention.

The latest national Gallup poll out today shows President Obama leading Governor Romney 49-44 among registered voters, up from a virtual tie between the two men earlier this month. But more telling are the polls inside the key battleground states that are crucial to getting the necessary 270 electoral votes. POLITICO reports "the post-convention bounce [the Romney campaign] hoped for fell well short of expectations and privately lament that state-by-state polling numbers - most glaringly in Ohio - are working in the President's favor." In fact, RealClearPolitics's average of polls among eight battlegrounds finds that the President has the lead in all but one of those states.

This race is far from over - but there are some headwinds to take note of, and we'll do just that today at noon ET. See you then.

PANEL

Jimmy Williams, msnbc Contributor (@jimmyspolitics)

Joan Walsh, Salon.com/msnbc Political Analyst (@joanwalsh)

Jonathan Alter, Bloomberg View/msnbc Political Analyst

Ryan Grim, Washington Bureau Chief, The Huffington Post (@ryangrim)

GUESTS

Peter Hart, NBC News/WSJ Pollster

Sasha Issenberg, Author, “The Victory Lab” (@sissenberg)

REPORTER

Luke Russert, NBC News (@lukerussert)