Democrats looking to a landslide

THE US president is determined by who wins the Electoral College, which has 538 members apportioned by population in each state and the District of Columbia.

Electoral votes are allotted on a winner-take-all basis in all but two states, which divide them by congressional district.

The winning candidate must amass 270 electoral votes in what amounts to a state-by-state contest.

According to CNN, Obama has 203 safe votes and 88 leaning votes, (291) while McCain has 122 safe and 41 leaning (163), among decided voters. Other sources report 306 for Obama and 157 for McCain.

Obama can earn 252 electors by merely reclaiming states won by John Kerry in 2004.

There are only two Kerry states still in contention — Pennsylvania with 21 votes and New Hampshire with four. AP-GfK polls show Obama leading both by double digits.

Ohio alone has 20 electoral votes. Nevada has 5, Colorado 9 and Virginia 13.

In addition, according to AP-GfK polling, Obama is tied with McCain in North Carolina and Florida, two vote-rich states Bush carried in 2004.

Obama is throwing his time and money into Florida, which has 27 votes, part of a strategy to create varied routes to victory and push toward a landslide of 300 or more electoral votes. North Carolina has 15 votes.

Independent polling suggests that New Mexico and Iowa, two traditionally Republican-leaning states, are out of reach for McCain. Other Republican states may be creeping away from him and into contention, including Montana.

The latest CNN-Time magazine-Opinion Research poll indicates Obama has nearly doubled his lead in Colorado over McCain, with 53% of likely voters favouring Obama, while 45% backed McCain, boosting the gap from 4 percentage points two weeks ago to 8 points now.

A CNN poll of polls in Indiana suggests McCain holds a 2 percentage point lead over Obama in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1964.

The CNN-Time-Opinion Research Corp poll indicates Obama has a 53% to 44% advantage over McCain in Virginia, another state that hasn’t voted a Democrat into the White House since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Both candidates hope the sun shines on them in Florida, where Obama holds a 4% edge over McCain, 51% to 47%.

In Georgia, McCain maintains his lead over Obama, but it has shrunk, the poll indicated. The 52%-47% McCain edge is down from an 8% lead two weeks ago.

Missouri is basically a dead heat, CNN reported. McCain holds a 2% lead, 50% to 48%.