the 5 to watch
by frankly spoken
there are five states to watch when the election day results are reported:
- ohio (20)
- pennsylvania (21)
- virginia (13)
- north carolina (15)
- florida (27)
these states are important for several reasons. they total 96 electoral votes which is more than a third of the necessary winning total of 270.
ohio, north carolina and florida are currently considered tossup states. it is interesting to note is that there were “issues” with the 2000 vote in florida and the 2004 vote in ohio. it now looks like the 2008 vote in north carolina has an apparently confusing “straight ticket” voting method that could be an issue for this election.
virginia has been solidly republican in the past so it is a new phenomenon for it to be in play for the democrats. similarly, ohio has been bush country the past two elections so that is renewed territory for obama.
pennsylvania appear to have been snatched from the grasp of mccain late in the campaign.
florida also typically votes conservative and there has been a history of voter suppression and vote counting inconsistencies which could make the results very unpredictable.
