Barack Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, explains a few of the many ways (he says there are “over 40 different pathways”) for Obama to get to 270 electoral votes in 2012. I particularly like the Virginia/North Carolina path, but I also see no reason why President Obama can’t carry any or all of the following states next November: Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, Florida, Ohio, and even Arizona (note: according to a new Pew poll, Latinos strongly favor Obama over Romney).
Meanwhile, for Republicans, the map is much more difficult, as they basically have to run the table, including in states with seriously unpopular Republican governors, like Ohio and Florida. Plus, Willard “Mitt” Romney gets to spend the next year explaining to the 99% of Americans why “corporations are people,” why his work for Bain Capital buying up companies and laying off workers would be a good model for the country, why his flip flops away from universal health care, from strong action on clean energy and climate change, from a woman’s right to choose, from LGBT rights, etc. mean we should trust him as far as we can throw him on anything. Answer: we shouldn’t, and we won’t. Sorry Willard (er, “Mitt”)!
