Obama's Electoral Math: Win Without Ohio, Fla.

Barack Obama is hardly giving up on Florida and Ohio, but campaign manager David Plouffe thinks the Democrat can win without them. “You have a lot of ways to get to 270,” Plouffe says. “Our goal is not to be reliant on one state on Nov. 4.” Plouffe envisions a redrawn electoral map, where Virginia, Georgia, and several Western states could turn blue.

Virginia and Georgia have 13 and 15 electoral votes, respectively, and each has large populations of unregistered black and young voters. A Democrat hasn’t taken Virginia since 1964, but high-profile Republicans have stumbled there in recent elections. Of course, Obama will also need the states John Kerry took, of which Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire could be tough fights. (More Obama 2008 stories.)