warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Virginia: The Swing State?

Max Schwartz |
September 6, 2012 | 11:43 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Photo by Cain and Todd Benson
Photo by Cain and Todd Benson
There are 60 days until the 2012 presidential election and starting today, I'll be writing about six swing states that will have a tremendous impact on this election. Dr. Brian David Goldberg, assistant professor and co-chair of the Department of Political Science at the American Jewish University, will be giving his non-partisan input on each of the six states – Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida and Nevada. Today, we'll talk Virginia.

Virginia was the site of an Obama victory in 2008 with 53 percent of the vote and it was also the site Romney introduced Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. The question remains: is Virginia actually a swing state? Republicans won Virginia in 2000 and 2004, but the Democrats won in 2008. Virginia has two Democratic senators, Mark R. Warner and Jim Webb. However, Virginia has two Democratic representatives and eight Republican representatives.

I asked Goldberg the following two questions: why is each of the following states [Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida, and Nevada] important to President Obama’s re-election effort and former Massachusetts Gov. Romney’s election effort? Do you believe any of these states will make or break either of the candidates?

Goldberg responded, “Obama won by 7 points in 2008 and needs this as part of his overall electoral math strategy. This is a newer battleground state and reflects changing demographics particularly in the Northeast part of the state near DC where a lot of government workers live. Remember, Republicans are for smaller government which would mean job cuts.”

 

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage on the 2012 election here.

Contact Staff Reporter Max Schwartz here; follow him on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness