Inside the politics of battleground states

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President Obama we showed you a little bit of an earlier he's in Ohio today shoring up support in that key battleground state.

But there -- a couple of states that are very close and very important in this presidential election.

Joining us now for a closer look at the political maps of Ohio Virginia and North Carolina.

-- 70 director of the center for politics at the University of Virginia.

Your your guy Kyle Condit who put together this piece on Ohio says it doesn't carry the electoral punch.

That it once did is that because of the shrinking manufacturing base and and shrinking population.

Yes which results and of course fewer electoral vote -- I was down to eighteen used to be more significant but it's still very important it's still keys Wednesday.

And that explains why the president is there today trying to tout his an auto bailout plan.

Yes and he's got a lot of pieces to put together an Ohio.

He's got to try and minimize what is a clear Republican resurgence in the more rural parts of Ohio outside the key.

Urban -- areas of Cleveland Columbus and Cincinnati.

There -- the Reagan Democrats the blue collar workers who voted Ronald Reagan and office there and they're not necessarily turning out in Ohio for President Obama.

There and clearly he's having some problems there John there there's no question about it.

You know -- its interest think even John Kerry did better.

In many of those blue collar counties than Barack Obama did and of course Obama carried Ohio.

Fairly handily and Kerry lost Ohio that's why they lost the the 2004 election so President Obama has an enduring problem.

With -- many of these -- blue collar workers in Ohio and elsewhere let me start.

With the Ohio real clear politics average of the -- them I'm gonna show Ohio first I hope by I'm taking -- a little bit out of our intended order but.

In Ohio according to real clear politics average of the polls the president has 46 point 2%.

Governor Romney 43 point six pretty tight race.

If you go to North Carolina.

Same thing and the positions are reversed Mitt Romney leads in North Carolina.

473 to 45 point three.

North Carolina is a state that the president is banking on as part of the reason the Democrats are holding their convention there right.

Well that that was the original -- to John look at that crystal ball here we have North Carolina leading Republican.

We think that Romney will carry it it won't be by a landslide but it will be by enough.

President Obama one of my 141000 votes -- he's clearly slipped and a lot of the key places in North Carolina from a -- to twelfth.

And Virginia -- real quickly we have to mention the president up by a couple of points in Virginia as well but those three states are gonna go a long way toward determining which of these men.

Wins the presidency in November Larry -- from the University of Virginia Larry it's good to have you on thank you.

Thanks -- well.

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Inside the politics of battleground states

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