Adam Nagourney reports on the increasing importance of Arizona and Colorado in the presidential campaign.
The broad map, including such unusual additions as Arizona, Colorado and Louisiana as well as the traditionally contested states like Ohio, is partly the result of the vast amount of money each candidate has raised and their decision to quit a campaign finance system that would put a ceiling on their spending. That has allowed Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry to spend – and experiment – in states they might otherwise have been forced to ignore, campaign aides said.
The new map also reflects demographic shifts that have put places like Arizona, a nominally Republican state, in play because of its growing Hispanic population, as well as polling that has found an increasing number of states that are nearly evenly divided.
Read more and check out the great graphics (link in sidebar of Times article).