Every day until the election, Slate will offer up one reason to be optimistic for your candidate.
22 days to go:
Today’s Good News for Obama: As Romney continues to cut into Obama’s lead in key swing states, one Republican bastion is suddenly emerging as an unexpected battleground: Arizona. A recent poll shows Obama leading Romney by two points in the Copper State, garnering 77 percent of the state’s Latino support and overwhelming Romney in the state’s two most urban counties. Obama lost the traditionally Republican state by 9 percentage points in 2008, and Democrats have been understandably reluctant to devote their time and money to winning Arizona’s 11 electoral votes this year. But a heated Senate race to replace John Kyl’s seat has brought the state back to contention, as Democratic candidate Richard Carmona took an unlikely lead over his Republican opponent last week. As North Carolina continues to slip out of reach for Democrats, Obama may be looking to Arizona to shore up his quest for 270 electoral votes.
