It's always about those colored people, isn't it?
Candidates Narrow Focus to 18 States
Battle Has Begun In Most-Contested Areas of Nation
By Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 15, 2004; Page A01
The election-night mapmakers created an indelible image of political America in 2000: red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats, and a handful of states, crowned by disputed Florida, that remained competitive until the very end. Campaign 2004 begins where 2000 left off.
Strategists for President Bush and Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) already have conceded a majority of the states to one another, with the election likely to turn on battles in fewer than 18 states.
The principal battlegrounds range from familiar swing states of Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania to new arrivals of Nevada, West Virginia and Minnesota that reflect changing demographics or the clash of cultural values that can affect voters' behavior as much as the unemployment rate.
Here's a graphic I stole from that Washington Post that breaks out the red/blue competitive states from the white, assumed to be non-competitive states.
Given the quality of predictions emanating from the punditry class the last few years, everyone in the white states should take these predictions with a grain of salt. Come to think of it, that applies to everything from economics to sports.
