[Ken H]

Love the article, but it is worth noting that Douthat is a conservative blogger / columnist.

So why is he writing crap like this:

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"I agree with Chait that the numbers still show Obama with a slightly clearer path than Romney to an (excruciatingly narrow) electoral college victory."

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What 'numbers' is he talking about???

[2ndDivisionVet]

Nate Silver, a twenty-something “boy genius” at his newspaper.

[EDINVA]

The numbers he’s talking about are Electoral Votes (EVs). It seems to be moving more favorably toward Romney, but it all comes down to EVs.

Obama, or any Dem, starts off with NY/CA/IL, all EV-rich. Until recently it was assumed that PA/WI/MN would also be automatically in Obama’s column. The Republican, on the other hand, generally has the EVs from the South, but it takes a lot of southern and other states to match the base of any Dem’s EVs.