Be sure to check out Jo Mannies’ story this morning, where she reports that Missouri may yet be able to retain its bellwether status — though it could be until after Thanksgiving that we find out for sure.

Since last week, Barack Obama has gained almost 1,000 votes statewide as local election officials comb through the results and revise their tallies. John McCain’s latest lead is 4,968 votes, out of more than 2.9 million cast — a difference of 49.4 percent to 49.3 percent.

Next step: Determining whether to include an estimated 7,000 provisional ballots. Though most of the ballots are in Obama-leaning territory, typically only about 40 percent of provisional ballots are eligible to be counted.

Either way, the entire process may take two or three weeks to finish.

With Obama already touring the Oval Office, the only prize at stake in the presidential contest is whether Missouri retains it bellwether status — in every presidential election but one in the last 100 years, Missouri has sided with the eventual winner.

Of more substance is the First District Senate Seat race, where Republican Jim Lembke has extended his lead from under 60 votes to 119 votes over Democrat Joan Barry.