Battleground: Indiana airwaves
Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 9:16 AM by Carrie Dann
Filed Under:
States
COLORADO: That long Colorado ballot may not shave off any controversial ballot initiatives as compromisers between business and labor interests had hoped. "Business leaders said Tuesday afternoon that they were unable to strike a deal with organized labor to remove four contentious initiatives from the November ballot, despite weeks of negotiations."
FLORIDA: Florida's governor weighed in on a controversial new measure that could be problematic for Florida's most recently registered voters. "Gov. Charlie Crist has a message for any new voter worried about running afoul of Florida's new and controversial ''no-match'' law: Open your mail. Under the new law, voters who registered after Sept. 8 -- but whose names don't match the state's Social Security or driver's license databases -- are notified by mail to fix the problem or face casting a provisional ballot on Election Day."
The St. Pete Times looks at the effect of black turnout on downballot races, even in states where McCain will win by a landslide.
INDIANA: The lead of today's politics story in the Evansville Courier & Press: "Indiana officially became a battleground state in the contest for the presidency on Tuesday, with the Republican National Committee airing a television commercial in the state on behalf of John McCain, and Barack Obama's supporters calling local news conferences to dispute it."
It's the first time a GOP presidential campaign has gone up on Indiana airwaves in twelve years. The Republican Party's executive director in the state counts "six negative ads" being run by Democrats there. "For those six very negative ads to continue to run in a vacuum, we certainly don’t want to risk what kind of consequences might come from that," he says.
MICHIGAN: The Washington Times describes a McCain "slide" in the Great Lakes state.
99 problems, but turnout ain't one? Hip-hop super-icon Jay-Z will headline an Obama-sponsored voter registration event in Detroit Saturday night.
OHIO: The Wall Street Journal offers this nugget about the ongoing early voting in the Buckeye State. "Advocates for the homeless in Ohio took advantage of the early-voting process to take shelter residents to polls. Many residents lack a driver's license or other identification that would be required on Election Day, but early voting requires voters to list only their state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number."
The Columbus Dispatch offers a blunt assessment of how much Obama's race could potentially hurt him in Ohio's Appalachian regions.
PENNSYLVANIA: Per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Another Pennsylvania poll sees a seven-point advantage for Obama. "Obama maintains a 7-point lead, 45 percent to 38 percent -- about the same advantage he held in August, according to a Franklin & Marshall Poll conducted between Sept. 23 and Sunday for the Tribune-Review, WTAE-TV and other news outlets."
WISCONSIN: The AP looks at eight swing counties in Western Wisconsin.
