2008 Presidential Election

Some people may want to understand the state of the race right now. Here is a brief outline of the state of the race.

Using the map shown above you'll see the states are shaded into RED, BLUE and TAN colors. RED = McCain, Blue = Obama, TAN = undecided. The numbers on each state represent their electoral votes.

Can McCain take traditionally Democratic states?:
The Traditionally Democratic states that McCain has been trying hard for are Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Polling within the last two weeks have shown that Obama has healthy leads beyond the margin of error in all of those states. So offensively McCain isn't doing so well.

Can Obama win states won by Bush in 2004?:
Obama has been polling very well in two states won by Bush in 2004: New Mexico and Iowa.

Who is in the best position?:
A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the election. As the map is laid out here Obama has 264 to McCain's 174. In order to win the election Obama only needs to win 1 of the undecided states. McCain would need to win all of them. One interesting note to consider is that if Obama only won Nevada and McCain won the rest the electoral vote would be a tie at 269 - 269. What happens then? The election would be sent to the House of Representatives which is led by Democrats who presumably would vote Obama President. (the Senate would vote for Vice President)

Who is leading in the undecided states?:
The undecided states do have leanings.
Strongly leaning Obama: Virginia
Leaning Obama or tie: Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, Florida
Strongly leaning McCain: North Carolina, Indiana
Leaning McCain or tie: Missouri

Conclusion:
Things of course can change but right now Obama is in an extremely advantageous position. It would be very unlikely for McCain to win every undecided state considering their leanings...we'll see! I'll post another update sometime soon.

Sources:
www.electoral-vote.com
www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html