US Presidential election Polls tonight suggest that Barack Obama has a slight lead in nine key battlegrounds that are known to Americans as ‘swing States ‘ – or what we would call in the UK ‘marginal seats’. I suspect he owes this lead to a couple of largely unpredictable heavyweights: Hurricane Sandy, and staunch Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

For reasons he clearly isn’t going to be honest with us about, Governor Christie has been heaping praise on President Obama for his “exemplary” handling of Hurricane Sandy.

“Ah jers lerv the way thayet Black Dude done wrestled Herrkane Sayindee too the growind,” said Zeke de Livrance of Inbred, Kentucky.

As well he might; but Chris Christie saying he would be honoured to bear Obama’s children is a tad over the top. So we must interrogate the motives here a little more. Of late, Christie has been talking quite a bit about America’s lack of real leadership…but not suggesting, as such, that Mitt Romney is a real leader. In fact, some cynics (how very dare they?) have pointed out that Big Chris must seek re-election next year….after which it is quite possible he may harbour Presidential ambitions. Surely not.

It’s all very hard to gauge. Only yesterday, incurable cynics were suggesting that Mitt Romney had shown real concern for those at the mercy of Sandy….in three key swing States. But were Chris Christie to run for President and win the White House, his main selling point might be that we could fly him to anywhere in the world – in the certain knowedge that dropping him onto a potential conflagration would douse it immediately.

Enough fattism already: this election seems to be going down to the wire. Romney analysts continue to insist that GOPers will turn up whereas Obamites won’t. For my money, this contest was over the minute I read that new Ohio polls gave Obama the clearest margin of victory, showing him with a 5% point lead there.

Ohio votes as America votes. This election is Obama’s.