270 OR BUST?

MARK HALPERIN’S TAKE: 270 Or Bust?

Obama goes for a big win, with risks

There are 538 precious electoral votes up for grabs on Nov. 4. To win, John McCain or Barack Obama needs to claim at least 270 of them.

The last two presidential elections were so close that both sides basically targeted only a handful of battleground states. Democrats in particular were cautious in 2000 and 2004. Facing a sea of red in the South and West, the party ended up focusing its resources on more winnable states whose electoral votes would just barely lift them to victory.

This time, the Republicans face the more challenging map, while Obama—flush with donations and volunteers has a cushion.

By competing in additional states, Obama can create more possible combinations to reach 270 electoral votes. And if he finishes strong, strategists in both parties agree, he could win more than 370 — a solid mandate for the sweeping changes he has promised.

But every dollar and every hour spent in places like deeply Republican Georgia divert resources from must win battlegrounds like Michigan. Some strategists wonder, then, if Obama’s campaign risks trying to win by a landslide and possibly losing by a hair.