MICHAEL O’NEIL

Longtime Valley political pollster Michael O’Neil has provided some analysis on the hundreds of national and state-by-state surveys on the presidential race and what they could mean for Tuesday’s election. His conclusion? John McCain’s only real chance of winning will be if young voters get overconfident, or get tired of standing on line, and don’t turn out in high numbers Tuesday. It’s young and first-time voters who are giving Barack Obama such an edge in several states that normally vote Republican including Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina.

As just about everyone expects young voters to break records Tuesday, O’Neil is giving McCain only a 10 percent chance of victory.