Captain Ed notes that Kerry is abandoning his campaign in Virginia and focusing on Iowa. Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It’s clear that the electoral battleground still favors Bush, and Kerry is playing defense. All Bush has to do is win the same states he did in 2000 to be reelected. If he can win even as much as one medium-sized state from Kerry then Kerry has no chance.
Given the situation, Kerry’s move is probably the smart one. States like Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona have gone from potential swing states to red states and the amount of resources needed to capture one would mean draining efforts from elsewhere. Kerry’s focusing on damage control, which is the smart move to make. Despite all the public polls showing a tight race, the Democrat’s own pollster, Democracy Corps, shows that Bush still has the lead by a narrow two points. Kerry can’t afford complacency now.
Of course, this means that the Bush campaign has to keep the pressure up, which is why the Midwestern Trifecta is going to be the next major battleground in these last four weeks. If Bush can take Minnesota, Iowa, or more likely Wisconsin from Kerry, the race is over. The Bush campaign is certainly interested in doing exactly that…
Hey, cool. Now, when people ask me “where was that again you lived once?” I can answer “Listen, dammit, Minnesota IS an important place, after all!”
J.
;-)))