The gods could be smiling on Barack Obama come Nov. 4.

Weather forecasters AccuWeather.com predict sunny skies across much of the country on Election Day, and good weather has historically helped Democrats at the polls.

A 2005 study found that lousy weather typically helps Republicans, as less-dedicated voters who typically favor Democrats tend to stay home rather than wait in line in the rain and snow.

To be precise, turnout drops by just under 1 percent for every inch of rain, or one-half percent for every quarter inch of snow, according to University of Pittsburgh professor George Krause, who co-authored the study.

So what’s the outlook for Tuesday? Unseasonably dry and warm across most of the Lower 48 states, according to AccuWeather.

Showers are forecast for the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest, where polls show Obama leading Republican rival John McCain by substantial margins.

But the widespread popularity of early voting could lessen any weather-related impact on Tuesday’s vote, Krause told Accuweather.

A boost for McCain? Maybe not. A Pew Research Center study released earlier this week found that Obama leads McCain by 19 percentage points among those who have already cast their ballots.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

- Photo credits: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama on a warm October 31 in Iowa); Brian Snyder (McCain speaks at a sunny Ohio rally)

DALLAS - According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has a 19-point lead over Republican rival John McCain among U.S. voters who have already cast their ballots.

The Pew poll, released on Tuesday, gels with other reports of a Democratic surge to the polls in states that allow early voting.

“Obama holds a 53 percent to 34 percent lead among the sizable minority of voters (15 percent) who say they have already voted. Among those who plan to vote early but have not yet voted (16 percent of voters), 56 percent support Obama, while 37 percent support McCain,” Pew said.

The election will be held a week from today and most national polls give Obama a commanding lead, although not by the margins suggested by Pew’s survey of early voters. This could well be a sign of energized and enthusiastic Democrats heading to the early polls.

Obama’s lead over McCain has narrowed from 12 points just five days ago to four points, according to the latest Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll. You can see our report on this  here. 

The latest Pew poll gave Obama an overall lead of 52 percent to 36 percent among the 1,325 registered voters surveyed from Oct 23- 26th.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama speaks at rally)

WASHINGTON - While there have been reports of long lines and an occasional problem in states conducting early voting for the 2008 presidential election, one such voter had no problems at all — President George W. Bush.

Bush and his wife Laura voted on Friday using Texas’ early voting process, according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

“The ballots will be mailed back to Texas today,” she said, adding that the president and his wife would be at the White House for election night. In the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections, Bush voted in Crawford, Texas, where he owns a 1,600 acre ranch.

Reporters, not taking anything for granted, peppered Perino with questions about whether Bush did in fact vote for Republican contender John McCain.

“I find this hard to believe but so many reporters have asked just who the president voted for, I guess I have to make it clear — for months the president has said he supports John McCain for president and of course he voted for him,” she replied.

- Photo credit: Reuters/ Jonathan Ernst (Bush chatting with advisers on Friday outside the Oval Office before boarding Marine One)