With the Democratic National Convention wrapped up as of Sept. 6, the Romney and Obama campaigns are putting on a full court press in order to gain support from the undecided voters that still make up a large chunk of the American electorate.
However, we haven’t seen much of the campaign swooning here in Connecticut, or New England in general, because the electoral votes of the region are generally believed to be a lock for President Obama.
States where the majority of campaign funds and energies are being directed where poll numbers indicate a race that is too close to call for either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama are generally referred to as the swing states.
Comparative to the 2008 presidential election, there are many more swing states in play that both candidates have an opportunity to win. When asked what more battle ground states will do for the presidential race Phil Pallone ’15 said, “It adds a whole new dynamic to the race. Attention is being given to states we aren’t normally accustomed to hearing about this late, and it’s exciting to watch.”
Once again Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, and Pennsylvania are key players in the campaign but the spotlight is also being placed on relative newcomers to the battleground arena such as Virginia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. One new dynamic is that all of these states were carried by Obama in 2008. If Romney can turn enough of these states red, he can claim the presidency.
This job will be a little easier in North Carolina considering it is a state that leans Republican and is currently at odds with President Obama’s position of endorsing gay marriage, after a voter initiative banned same sex marriage in the state in May.
The two Republican leaning states of Virginia and Florida will be a little harder for Romney to win over. Currently both states’ polls are making it too close to call and in Florida many retirees are not in favor of a budget that Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan penned, which will essentially turn Medicare into a privatized “voucher program.”
Junior Zachary Albert explained why retirees are weary of this plan saying, “Many seniors would rather see Medicare stay the way it is because they fear a change would create a rise in their overall health care costs.”
After these three states the battle becomes even more of an uphill climb for Romney. As of Sunday the polls show that only Iowa and Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin do not lean toward Obama but remain too close to call. Wisconsin also remains a problem for Romney due to voter disputes with the current Republican governor Scott Walker over his attempts to strip labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. This issue was made more complicated when a Wisconsin judge struck down the attempted measures last Friday.
With so much uncertainty building up, this puts more and more emphasis on the importance of the 18 electoral votes of Ohio. It’s becoming more apparent that Romney needs Ohio in order to deny President Obama another four-year term. Unfortunately for Romney, President Obama appears to be in the driver’s seat with a five-point lead in the polls with the help of a post Democratic National Convention “bump.”
“Romney appears to be losing ground as of late,” stated Albert, “but he still has time to make his final case to the American public in the upcoming presidential debates. It’s going to get very interesting.”
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