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 Obama then heads again to Virginia, which is offering up political intrigue this year. Obama is vying to become the first Democrat for president to win the state in 44 years.
Gunning for the 270 electoral votes the Democrat needs to win the White House, Obama is almost exclusively targeting tossup red states, the label for ones that trend Republican. Any one of them might tip him to victory. Combined, they could give him a dominant win.
Meanwhile, ahead in the polls, Obama spends little time at all defending Democratic blue states except for one
-- Pennsylvania -- where Republican John McCain is pushing hard.
The political math explains Obama's plans on Tuesday, just one week shy of the election.
The Illinois senator was staging a rally at James Madison University in Harrisonburg and then another one at night in Norfolk on his ninth trip to Virginia since he clinched the Democratic Party's nomination in June.
McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, are campaigning aggressively in Virginia, too. The transformation of the Washington-savvy northern Virginia region, coupled with distaste for an unpopular president, no longer makes the commonwealth reflexively Republican.
Obama's campaign exudes an air of calm and confidence. He plans to plug for votes in North Carolina, Florida and Missouri in the coming days.
Like Virginia, all of them went for Bush in 2004.
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On the Net:
McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/
Obama: http://www.barackobama.com/
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