The new battleground states

Richard Baehr of American Thinker gives a good rundown of the battleground states from the latest polls. He points out that Obama has missed his red state targets:

Many of Obama's once-targeted red states are now safely in McCain's corner. These include Montana (3), North Dakota (3) Alaska (3), and Georgia (15). North Carolina (15), Indiana (11) and Missouri (11) do not look too promising for Obama either. Of course, if the race breaks hard for either candidate in the last month, such that the current near-deadlock in the national popular vote becomes a 5% or greater margin of victory, then some of the second tier targets may come into play. But they won't matter. If Obama opens up a 5% national lead, he will win Ohio, and Virginia and Colorado. If McCain opens up a similar sized national lead, he probably wins Michigan and Pennsylvania. Neither candidate would need any other states from the other party's column -- these would amount to gravy, allowing the winner to claim a mandate.

The Obama campaign has failed in executing its red state attacks. Its field volunteers, mainly from out-of-state, are finding trouble connecting to local voters. With the economy going south, McCain needs a message of sympathy and not just repeating the positives. Voters have lost their savings and jobs because of the recent economic downturn, and they do not wish to hear that the "fundamentals are strong."