Although there will always be much talk of national polls, the only real way to understand the upcoming Presidential election is to look at the state-by-state electoral map. Real Clear Politics has just such a map. At the moment, the President looks to have a significant advantage there, although hardly an insurmountable one. We can also look for that map to change somewhat once the primaries are over and Obama’s challenger begins to focus all of his attention on swaying centrist voters and attacking the President’s record and policies.
2008 was a rather tame election, but from looking at recent speeches by both Obama and Romney, we can probably expect a very negative and bitter campaign. It should be interesting to see what Obama looks like when he tries to get angry and go negative. He’s never really had to do that before, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of it. It would certainly please some of his fans if he did.
(This item cross-posted to Dean’s World.)
Dean Esmay is the author of Methuselah’s Daughter. He has contributed to Dean’s World, Huffington Post, A Voice for Men, Pajamas Media. Neither left nor right wing, neither libertarian nor socialist.