hi dig,
i think you may be overreacting to polls run by the rasmussen, gravis arc. they've been hard at work creating an impression. but when have you relied on them previously?
if you keep an eye on the guys who aren't reliably right-leaning, ohio looks like it is bottoming out with obama plus four to six. http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2012-ohio-president-romney-vs-obama?gem
and improving economics also help: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/30-days-fundamentals-favor-obama/story?id=17414910#.UHusGFHN2Jm
i think there's likely to be a countrywide bounce back up a point or two around here. especially if he works harder in the next debate. surely he has folks working up a few counter-arguments here so he doesn't have to think on his feet all the time. so much easier if you only have to think about outliers.
by all accounts, he's studying for this one.