Under the constitution a party that boycotts two consecutive polls faces the prospect of being disbanded.
There is a fairly rich amount of polling in the state and, importantly, Mr. Santorum has gained ground in consecutive polls issued by the same survey firms.
It was the first time since the preseason poll of 1990-91, a stretch of 172 consecutive polls, that North Carolina was not ranked.
Mr. Romney has led in six consecutive polls of North Carolina, and the forecast model now gives him an 85 percent chance of winning it.
Quinnipiac had Mr. Obama by seven points in Connecticut, making this the third consecutive poll to show Mr. Romney within single digits there.
Rasmussen Reports also gave Mr. Romney a two-point lead in Florida, making this the second consecutive poll to show him ahead there.
Its ratings plummeted after the budget, and Labor's lead in 13 consecutive polls since is its longest run since 2010, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister.
Mr. Obama has led in 21 consecutive polls of Pennsylvania and his margins seem to have widened a bit recently; the forecast model now gives him an 89 percent chance of winning it on Nov. 6.
Wednesday also brought bad news for Republicans in Massachusetts, where a fourth consecutive poll showed the Democrat Elizabeth Warren ahead of Senator Scott Brown; in Connecticut, where a poll gave the Democrat Chris Murphy a slight advantage over their candidate, Linda McMahon; and in Florida, where a Fox News poll gave the Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson a 14-point lead.
As Malcolm Turnbull, the lucky beneficiary of Tony's indomitable awfulness has already pointed out, this mess of government has watched as its favourability dropped across 30 consecutive polls, and all while facing one of the least formidable oppositions in living memory.
