Obama’s Potential for Changing the Electoral Map

The punditocracy has been all over the Obamentum in South Carolina, but I have not seen any explorations of what it might mean for the general election. As the Faithful Progressive points out, Obama garnered more votes yesterday than the first and second place finishers combined in last week’s GOP primary. While November is a long way off, and a primary can’t bee seen as a preview of the general election, it seems that an Obama candidacy in the fall would put the Palmetto State, and perhaps other traditionally Red states in play in ways they haven’t been recently. Similarly, the fact that 236,000 Democrats caucused in Iowa compared to 116,000 Republicans would seem to suggest that this traditional battleground state could be said to be leading Dem, at the least. The plethora of Red state endorsements that Obama’s been vacuuming up and his strength among Republicans and independents indicates Iowa and South Carolina could be but the tip of the electoral iceberg.