Forget Missouri. Get ready to bail on Ohio

The Kerry campaign is pulling ads in states that were once thought to be competitive and a cruel electoral math is emerging. From the Boston Globe “Kerry faces tinier battlefield after Bush’s bounce in polls”:

President Bush's postconvention bounce in state and national polls has left Democratic challenger John F. Kerry with a smaller battlefield upon which to contest the presidential election and a potentially more difficult route to an electoral college victory than his advisers envisioned only a few months ago.

I said months ago that President Bush should focus on Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and the other Great Lake states since I’m convinced Kerry will not gain a single state below the Mason-Dixon line (although it wouldn’t be a bad idea to campaign a little in Florida just for insurance.)