(Newser)
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President Obama’s campaign had largely written off Ohio in its plan for reaching 270 electoral votes—but now strategists are eyeing victory in the state once again, reports Politico. The president still isn’t depending on a win there, but the defeat of GOP governor John Kasich’s collective-bargaining law has provided hope for Obama. So has the ascent of Mitt Romney, whom the Obama campaign doesn’t think will play well in the state, an insider says.
“There are a lot of scenarios in which [Obama] gets to 270 without Ohio. But there are no scenarios I can think of where the Republican candidate can get to 270 without us,” says former Gov. Ted Strickland. “And that means we are his firewall.” Still, if he wants to win, Obama “needs to put it in overdrive.” And while things improve for the president in Ohio, he faces weakened poll numbers in North Carolina and Virginia, states he had hoped to win.
