A last-minute McCain surge?

By The Economist | AUSTIN

An afternoon update: Marc Ambinder has posted a couple of emails from the Obama campaign to supporters, warning that "this election is significantly closer than the polls predicted" and warning that "the results will be very close in many states." They're calling for a final get-out-the-vote push. This may just be a clever way to keep their supporters from getting complacent (as when they had all those urgent fundraising appeals in September and Mr Obama ended up with $150m). In other news, the notoriously unreliable exit polls are starting to come in, and 62% of respondents said that the economy was their top concern. Only 10% said Iraq, and of those about two-thirds went to Mr Obama. (Thus sayeth CNN.)