I love this.  Some people think that all it takes is one time to "expand" the EC map.  Baby, it takes more than one candidate and one election cycle to do it.

and voters get pretty pissed off when they are taken for granted.

look at MA.  It could go red in november

So Obama's FOREIGN RELATIONS adviser is an expert on electoral strategy....

Right...

Also, wait until the nomination is completely certain - you'll see some gains.

North Dakota?

We need less panic attacks and more courageous Democrats.

McCain leads the policy vacuum that is the GOP.  He fully embraces the disastrous Bush legacy.  The Republicans are wrong on every major issue of the day, and the American people know it.

Obama is going to do great in November.  Bellyaching over electoral maps will the Democratic primary is still ongoing is foolish.

Buck up!  We'll be more than fine.

The left base supported Edwards.

Why would anyone ask Obama's foreign relations advisor about Obama's electoral strategy?

From Kos's analysis of Blue States Obama and Clinton would have to fight to defend versus Red States that Obama or Clinton would have a fighting chance to take:

           Blue States       Red States
          Obama  Clinton    Obama  Clinton
McCain v.
                    CT        AK
                    HI                AR
            MI      MI        CO      
            NH      NH        FL      FL
                    OR        IN      IN
            PA      PA        IA      IA
                    WA                KY
            WI      WI                MO
                              MT
                              NM      NM
                              NV
                              NC
                              ND
                              OH      OH
                              SC      SC
                              TX      TX
                              VA
                                      WV

McCain leads Obama in Virginia, but it isn't an insurmountable margin. Yes, Virginia hasn't gone Democratic in a very long time, but that makes it the definition of expanding the Democratic map.

sigh

We get it Obama isn't going to win because Hillary supporters say so.

will make it harder for McCain to fight in some of these battleground states.

Obama already has a base in 48 out of the 50 states.  He just has to work on Florida and Michigan.

The good thing about the PROLONGED PRIMARY FIGHT is that Dems have registered FAR MORE Democrats in these states than Republicans have.  And now with "VOTE FOR CHANGE" that number will be even higher.  That will help downticket Dems ie the Dem for the Oregon senate seat, etc.

Obama just needs to choose a running-mate that compliments his weaknesses ie Webb, Kaine, Strickland, even Hillary.

Sorry, but I just gotta ask- did you even think when you wrote this diary?

If you're saying a strong Democrat should assume to get IA, WI, etc, then Hillary Clinton's not a strong Democrat. McCain polls above her in both states.

I neither found the interview you're citing on CNN.com, nor do I understand what logic you're using, if any, on this diary. I don't get how you figure these states are now "suddenly on the map" for Republicans simply because Obama's foreign affairs advisor couldn't give you a satisfactory answer on some CNN political hack show.

Following that logic, could you give me the rundown on the proper way to frame in a window? Or maybe a dissertation on Vergil's minor works, and how the Aeneid affected Roman culture? I know, it doesn't have anything to do with what we're talking about here, but I figured asking you about something you're completely unfamiliar with in the course of a conversation about something different was fair game. You seem to think so.

HELLS YEAH!!! MCCAIN RULES, OBAMA DROOLS!!! Love this diary.  

Blue states like PA,MI,NJ,RI,MA,NH WI,OR,MN,IA are now in the Map for Republicans.

With the exception of MA and RI, all of these states routinely produce close margins -- that's nothing new. Clinton generally performs better in PA, NJ, RI, and MA -- but Obama generally wins these states as well. Obama performs much better than Clinton in MI, WI, OR, MN, IA, and WA -- however, Clinton frequently loses these states in head-to-head match-ups against McCain. Given the margins of these respective states in the previous four elections, I'd much rather have a candidate who does better with respect to the latter than with respect to the former.

If you take all of the states tha Gore won you are 260 electoral votes and BO nees 269.  If you add NH, which is iffy since most of the polls i have seen show McCain ahead there BO would be at 264.  Still you have to find one state tha Bush won in both 2000 and 2004 that will vote Democratic in 2008.  

Right now that only state is CO and BO would have to hold onto NM or NH.  Anyone who thinks BO can win VA, Fl, or MO is kidding since McCain is way ahead in these states.  Even OH seems like a long.

So all the talk of the 50 state plan, that works great for congress, does not seem to apply to the presidental GE.

david

Obama WILL win the Kerry states. No doubt. That's 252. He needs Ohio.

We have governors in CO, PA, OH to ensure there is no 'hanky panky'

With Strickland on the ticket, it's a done deal for Ohio.

Easy peeze.

If the sky is blue in your world, too.

this is what happens when the Daily Kos/Arianna Huffington wing take over the party. These guys are the people who are just too politically correct to see reality. When a Democratic candidate gets killed amongst whites and hispanics IN HIS OWN PARTY, which is generally more liberal on race than the overall populace, then there is no way he's doing any better in an electorate far more conservative than the Dem party, the general electorate.

Thinking he is going to win Virginia is pure self dilusion. Even if Kerry had gotten 100% of the black vote, he'd still have lost to Bush big there like in 2004. Kerry actually got 87 percent of the black vote there, Bush 12. Whites went to Bush 68-32. If he can't do any better, he's going to lose. Blacks made up 21 percent of the overall electorate, and make up roughly a same proportion in the state population. Unless whites don't vote, or massively shift, Obama is going to get killed there if he can't do better with whites. he is not on his way to doing that with Wright and clinging to guns.

I don't get where people get ideas of him carrying these "new states." he'd need Latinos to win Colorado, and they don't like him. OR, IA and WI are already blue states. He's gonna get killed. His map is the same as Kerry's at best. If he can't win Ohio, he loses this election. and right now, Barack McGovern's on his way to doing just that.