50 States? 49, 48….

They were never really going to compete in 50 states, but the changes also whittle down the number of swing states where Obama's playing. Back in June, when Plouffe laid out his strategy they said they would compete in as many as 25 states – given their advertising priorities that list has dwindled to 17 at best. Almost uniformly, the GOP's response to Obama's ground game is: quality versus quantity. The GOP spokesman in both Ohio and North Dakota told me that Obama's canvassers are mostly college kids. That's all right, an Obama spokesman fired back, that's a criticism they've heard before.