Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in favor of Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, takes Ohio out of the "easy for Republicans to steal in spite of a Democratic S.o.S." category. McCain/Palin have to compete in Ohio, have to spend money there, every day, until Nov. 4, just to keep it close.
The same is true of Florida and Virginia. Although I am sure there are "contingencies in place in Florida" Republicans will still have to fight there every day to keep it close enough to steal. And then there is Virginia, which is now a firewall for Obama, who CAN afford to lose both Ohio and Florida and still win this thing with Virginia and Iowa plus Kerry states.
The Trifecta of Ohio/Florida/Virginia will suck up alot of money/staffing/energy and media focus over the next two weeks.
I believe this will give Obama an opportunity to run up his margins in Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorodo. The lack of enthusiasm for McCain will make it hard to execute his Whack a Mole strategy.
As the national polls tighten it seems that Obama's margins in battleground states are holding.
I believe that McCain could have gotten over the Electoral hump if he and his fellow Republicans had managed to disenfranchise 200,000 Ohio voters. There would have been a Snowball of Darkness effect.
Instead, it's just business as usual. Standard Republican duplicity in the face of a dominant opponent. There is no narrative for a McCain victory. It's been a while since the Republican machine has been forced to fight a fair fight (Relatively Speaking).