Lets begin with what IS exactly a swing state. My friends have asked me over the last few weeks why they were so important into the race for president. Well, a swing state is a state in which the political views of that state and not inherently blue or red, republican or democrat. It is a state in which both parties have a mostly even chance at convincing voters to vote for them and gain the electoral votes.
WHY swing state are so important are because they play a key pivotal role in the race for electoral votes. News stations try to predict which way a swing state may lean and during this past 2012 election have been very good at it. The number of swing states varies depending on who is counting and during this past election it fell between 9-12. These include: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.
Swing states may also be called Battleground States, which seems a bit silly to me. Yes, metaphorically the candidates are battling it out for the electoral votes but in the end no real blows ever came to pass. I'm banking it's just a media ploy to get people more riled up about the candidates and make they take sides. But that is neither here nor there and swing states played a key role in the reelection of President Obama.
A presidential candidate needs to be the first to reach 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a winner-take-all election within each state, with the winner getting all of the electoral votes offered. (Except for Nebraska and Maine use a proportional vote system.)
Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, of the Constitution first spelled out the electoral college system and while there have been some tweaks over the years, it remains in place.Which means that the swing states were full of potential electoral votes in which could win either candidate the election. The candidates campaign hard in these states and President Obama was no exception, he even chose his reelection rallies in two of them. (Ohio and Virginia)
And in the end it was Ohio which won President Obama the election, the media announced his projected win of Ohio and it's electoral votes. Which put him just over 270 and would place him as the winner, and in the end it did. States that inherently lean one way or another are not ignored by the candidates, but in the end it is the swing states which help to decide an election.
WHY swing state are so important are because they play a key pivotal role in the race for electoral votes. News stations try to predict which way a swing state may lean and during this past 2012 election have been very good at it. The number of swing states varies depending on who is counting and during this past election it fell between 9-12. These include: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.
Swing states may also be called Battleground States, which seems a bit silly to me. Yes, metaphorically the candidates are battling it out for the electoral votes but in the end no real blows ever came to pass. I'm banking it's just a media ploy to get people more riled up about the candidates and make they take sides. But that is neither here nor there and swing states played a key role in the reelection of President Obama.
A presidential candidate needs to be the first to reach 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a winner-take-all election within each state, with the winner getting all of the electoral votes offered. (Except for Nebraska and Maine use a proportional vote system.)
Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, of the Constitution first spelled out the electoral college system and while there have been some tweaks over the years, it remains in place.Which means that the swing states were full of potential electoral votes in which could win either candidate the election. The candidates campaign hard in these states and President Obama was no exception, he even chose his reelection rallies in two of them. (Ohio and Virginia)
Photo courtesy of Latinos Post
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