And here They Come Around the Final Turn...

According to the Campaign Coverage Index from the Pew Research Center's Project For Excellence in Journalism, in the final days of the race for president, seemingly nothing but the algebra of the electoral map appears to have staying power. For the week Oct 20-26, the top storyline was the fight over battleground states, accounting for 10% of the campaign newshole. In a campaign and media environment now focused strongly on the shape of the race, one staple of weekly coverage is the attention to strategy and tactics. Coverage of swing state battles (10% of the newshole), polls (6%), and fundraising (5%), and some other related storylines accounted for about one-quarter of last week's newshole. Add in Gen Colin Powell's endorsement of Sen Obama (at 6%), which was frequently discussed in terms of its political potency, and that broad theme fills almost 30% of the coverage. Last week, policy debates and issues accounted for another 17% of the coverage. The broader U.S economy—including differences in tax policy and McCain's sharpened line of attack that Obama favors redistributing wealth—was the top storyline in that category (at 8%). At the same time, coverage of the candidates' reactions to the financial crisis that struck with hurricane force in mid-September dropped all the way to 2%.