Bringing in the Bucks

From MSNBC: Obama leads the money chase in key counties, but damn Ohio is still McCain country.

Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Ohio's Ashtabula County. Winnebago County, Wisconsin.

These are the counties where the 2008 presidential election may be decided. They're battleground counties in the battleground states. In the 15 states considered up for grabs this election, there are 238 counties where the last presidential election was very close.

New data on contributions to the presidential campaigns indicates that Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is leading the race for campaign cash in those counties. Through August, Obama raised more money in 168 — or 70 percent — of those counties, according to the latest fundraising numbers released this week. The Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, has raised more money in 69 counties. One county (Traverse, Minn.) showed no donations reported for either candidate. Only in one of the battleground states — Ohio — did McCain win the majority of these tightly contested counties.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008