Unless something "big" happens between now and Election Day, President Obama is operating on a much narrower electoral map in 2012. From The New York Times' Nate Silver:
[W]ith the presidential election likely to be much closer than it was in 2008, Mr. Obama is unlikely to paint any new state blue this year. The forecast model gives him a 15 percent chance of carrying Montana, which has been sparsely polled; a 14 percent chance of winning Missouri; and an 8 percent chance of winning Arizona. Fourth on the list is South Dakota, where the model gives Mr. Obama about a 4 percent chance after the new survey, followed by Georgia at 2 percent.
Mr. Obama is an underdog in two states that he won in 2008, Indiana and North Carolina.
