As negative ads begin to air across the nation, the 2012 presidential elections are gearing up to one of the most hard fought and negative elections in a decade. With the nation showing an even distribution on their opinions concerning Obama job approval, and indecisiveness over if they view Romney favorably, the race is boiling down to who can sway the voters in the all important swing states. Yesterday several swing state polls were released showing Obama vs Romney in a virtual tie in Ohio and Florida. Several electoral projection maps have been highlighting likely electoral wins for the 2012 election making it more evident that ever how important the swing states are, especially for Romney. Republican candidates typically start on a slightly lower platform since Democrats generally snag the large electoral votes from California and New York. The latest election prediction maps have Romney starting at a approximately 170 base platform compared to Obama’s 241 this leaves around nine states up for grabs that are essential for both candidates to reach the necessary 270 votes.
One of the highlighted swing states in the news this week is Virginia. The latest Washington Post poll shows that Obama has a slight lead over Romney with a 51-44% advantage. Most Virginians say Obama’s views as more in line with their own. This is due to the fact that Virginia was a rather overlooked state in the Primary, neither Santorum nor Gingrich made it onto the ballot for the 2012 Republican primary meaning Romney did little campaigning there and voters simply don’t know him.Romney is trying to rectify that and is campaigning heavily in Virginia. He has even gained the support from former opponent Michele Bachmann as well as the popular Virginian Governor Bob McDonnell to help close the gap between himself and President Obama. With recent political polls showing the vast majority of each political base already firmly behind their respective candidates it will be more crucial than ever to sway independent voters in swing states. Now all they have to do in the upcoming months is prove that they will do a better job in running the country than that other guy.
