Both presidential campaigns released their August fundraising numbers and for the first time since April, President Obama's bank account came out on top. The Obama campaign raised $114 million last month, compared to Romney's $111 million. It's also a huge jump over the Democrat's $75 million haul in July, suggesting that maybe the Convention arrived at just the right time.

Reports still say that Romney's lucrative summer and Obama's tendency to spend more than he brings in gives the Republicans a big cash advantage as we head into the final two months, but there's no guarantee that money will translate into more votes. (That money also doesn't include the Super PACs, which are not formally tied to the campaign.) The latest Gallup poll numbers showed the President receiving a very slight bump from his convention, which seems to have gone over a little better with voters than the Republican version the week before. Two new polls from Public Policy Polling also show the President extending his lead in Ohio and taking a one-point edge in North Carolina, thanks mostly to improved numbers among his Democratic base. Small advantages to be sure (PPP has been accused by conservatives of leaning way too far to the left), but another sign that the President had a good week last week. Even Romney advisers are (anonymously) conceding that at this stage the President has the inside edge to win the big race.

The Ohio poll also included the stunning figure that 15 percent of Republicans say Mitt Romney is more responsible for the death of Osama bin Laden than Barack Obama is, which isn't so much a reflection of their confidence in Romney's military skills as it is a refusal to give the President credit for anything.

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Dashiell Bennett