Does Palin Put Indiana Out Of Reach For Obama?

Barack Obama was planning to campaign hard in Indiana. He was ready to spend millions to get the word out. He was setting up offices and hiring coordinators. But, that was before Governor Sarah Palin's rousing speech last night at the RNC. Real Clear Politics has the lead for McCain at 7%. Expect that number to climb as the leaners make a hard right turn. In fact, the entire heartland of America is bright red. The only questions left to be answered come from some traditional battleground states. The most important...Ohio. The Buckeye state boasts 20 electoral votes, which explains why the announcement of McCain's VP pick was staged there. This race is a dead heat and will be decided by voter turnout. Next is Michigan with 17 electoral votes. Another toss up. And then we have to talk about Pennsylvania where the latest polls show Obama up by 5%, but that was taken last week. A lot can change in a week and it certainly has for the GOP. Lastly is the Sunshine State. McCain has enjoyed a marginal lead there for the last month. With little bounce from the Democratic Convention, expect Florida to remain red and their 27 votes to put McCain over the top. It will remain a close race, with plenty of attacks and smears. One thing I believe we can take to the bank now is that Hoosiers will vote Republican once again in the presidential election. Obama will likely spend his money in the other states that were mentioned here. My hope is that the surge for McCain equates into added votes for Mike Sodrel.