Obama refocuses on Rust Belt states

By Philip Elliott - Associated Press

DILLONVALE, Ohio — So much for the full-on 50-state strategy. Call Barack Obama's implementation of national Democrats' coast-to-coast plan "Fifty-State Lite."

Barack Obama's strategists say they will pick and choose where to spend time and money. Sure, the presidential candidate is spending time in previously Republican Indiana and North Carolina, but the true focus is going to be areas where he simply must win.

Despite early optimism, Obama's strategists are mapping out an electoral plan similar to Democrat John Kerry's from 2004, with a few tweaks. Obama still is pushing into traditionally Republican and rural areas, such as this farm region along the Ohio River. But don't look for the Democratic presidential nominee in, say, undeniably GOP Idaho.

Obama made a beeline for the Rust Belt when he left the Democratic National Convention last week. With a swing through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, Obama signaled the importance of this region to his campaign. Kerry won Pennsylvania and Michigan — two states where Obama strategists think their chances are iffy — and lost Ohio by a one-vote-per-precinct margin in 2004.

Obama has long looked for a way to win the White House without the 20 electoral votes of Ohio, the prototypical swing state.

His top aides, including his campaign manager, once said they could lose the state and still win the election by picking off states that typically support Republicans.

No more.

The campaign is quietly eyeing a states' map similar to the one used in past elections, with some exceptions. Obama this week dropped advertising in Georgia, a traditionally Republican state that he considered winnable based on increased voter registration among African-Americans and young people.

Yet, Obama is advertising in about 16 states; Kerry won only four of them in 2004.

The updated plan puts Ohio and its neighbors back at the top of the list. And for good reason.

Ohio, a sprawling state that blends urban centers such as Cleveland with farm country, was the linchpin for Bush's re-election in 2004.

Obama's staff is targeting voters there on a street-by-street basis.

No Republican has ever won the presidency without carrying Ohio, and only two Democrats in recent history have done so.

This is a state where blue-collar workers fear a contracting economy, the Iraq war remains unpopular and elected officials fret as their college grads leave for other states.

Obama and McCain are running about even in the state: Obama was at 47 percent and McCain 45 percent in a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll of registered voters conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2.