SUSA's national matchup

SUSA did some pretty kick-ass polling of all 50 states, matching up Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama against John McCain. The results?

McCain 262
Clinton 276

McCain 258
Obama 280

They both do it differently.

Clinton:

Obama:

Let's look at some notable states:

Arkansas: Clinton +11, Obama -20
Colorado: C -6, O +9
Florida: C +9, O -2
Hawaii: C +4, O +30
Idaho: C -36, O -13
Iowa: C -5, O +9
Michigan: C even, O +1
Minnesota: C +4, O +7
Missouri: C -4, O -6
Montana: C -20, O -8
Nebraska: C -27, O -3 (and splitting the EVs of the state)
Nevada: C -8, O +5
New Hampshire: C -8, O +2
New Jersey: C +5,  O even
New Mexico: C even, O +7
North Carolina: C -8, O -2
North Dakota: C -19, O +4
Ohio: C +10, O +10
Oklahoma: C -8, O -23
Oregon: C -5, O +8
Pennsylvania: C +1, O -5
South Carolina: C -6, O -3
South Dakota: C -12, O -4
Tennessee: C even, O -16
Texas: C -7, O -1
Utah: C -38, O -11
Virginia: C -10, O even
Washington" C -2, O +14
West Virginia: C +5, O -18
Wisconsin: C +4, O +11
Wyoming: C -33, O -19

It's amazing how many non-swing states will suddenly be, well, swing states this year, like Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Some of these states become competitive depending on the candidate, like Arkansas and Tennessee for Clinton, and just about everything west of the Mississippi for Obama.

And you may be wondering why I included states like Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho in this list since both candidates get crushed. Well, because we'll have important races in those states at the House and Senate level, as well as state-level races. It's clear that in those states (and many others like it), Obama will be a dramatic help at the top of the ticket versus Clinton, who will play the traditional role of top-of-the-ticket albatross.

In all, Obama outperforms Clinton in 33 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Clinton outperforms Obama in 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

They are even in: Kansas and Ohio.

Now New Jersey, Washington, and maybe even Pennsylvania are teases to the GOP. They seem to consider flipping, then never do. Obama getting North Dakota is so implausible that I'd never count on it.

Ohio gives Obama and Clinton even numbers, so the notion that her victory there makes her "more electable" there is pretty silly. The same way that Obama winning Missouri doesn't make him "more electable" in that state.

All in all, it's one poll. And if polls are correct 95% of the time (which is standard), then we have to assume by definition that 2-3 of these are off. So take with all the appropriate grains of salt.