Going for 50

Barack Obama has spent more than a year building a network of volunteers and organizers around the country, and he plans to call on that machine in the general election to fight the Republicans on their home turf. But campaigning in states like North Carolina and Virginia likely has as much to do with forcing John McCain to stretch his budget as it does with winning electoral votes.

New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama’s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states — from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana — as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said.

On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina — a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years — to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964.

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