Michigan

WASHINGTON - National Republicans are slashing their advertising buy for veteran U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.), Politicker.com has learned. The National Republican Congressional Committee has cancelled its first and second weeks of advertising for Knollenberg, amounting to about $315,000 in reserved time, according to media buy information obtained by Politicker.com and confirmed by a Republican source familiar with the NRCC's plans. The committee has kept in place plans to advertise on behalf of Knollenberg during the last week of the set.

The 2004 Electoral Map with Ohio on the fence: Politicker PhotoIs Ohio's reign as the single must win state for the presidency over?
 
As a handful of states across the country show fresh signs of swinging from one partisan column to another, it appears that Barack Obama and possibly John McCain could lose Ohio and still win the presidency.

Using the 2004 electoral map as a foundation, Obama could lose Ohio and win three Western states he's targeted prominently: Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. The total electoral votes from those three states are one short of Ohio's 20, but taking them from McCain would give Obama 271 votes in the Electoral College - one more than he needs to win. Alternatively, Obama could win Iowa and add either Virginia or Missouri to survive and Ohio loss.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Is the Buckeye State's reign as the single must-win state for the presidency over? As a handful of states across the country show fresh signs of swinging from one partisan column to another, it appears that Barack Obama and possibly John McCain could lose Ohio and still win the presidency.

An item in the Wall Street Journal makes the case that Republican John McCain could pick up Michigan's 17 usually-blue electoral votes if he makes all the right moves -- which might include picking Gov. Mitt Romney.

Some of this speculation is made off of the argument that Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has the low approval rating of 30%.

But attention Romney surrogates: that's a tenuous argument.

The Boston Herald today takes a look at a wide open electoral map. The Inside Edge counts 15-20 states that could be in play this November. If it seems like a lot, it is.  

This weekend state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth) will be one of 30 people who could determine Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) fate.

Fuller Clark is a member of the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee that will meet this weekend to determine if the delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated at the national convention.  The two states were stripped of their delegates because they voted before the date purposed by the DNC.

When the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee meets on May 31 to determine the status of the votes cast in the Michigan and Florida primaries, its members should try to look past self-serving campaign arguments and silly attempts to save face by bumbling party leaders.