As they watch what Congress does, the presidential candidates are also watching the electoral map.
Yet a glance at an electoral map explains why the Tories' views may be changing.
ECONOMIST: The Tories flirt with a growing English nationalism
Nevertheless, Mr Obama succeeded in unfreezing an electoral map that had been frozen for the past eight years.
They have looked at an electoral map of America and decided where to hit the President where it hurts most.
If Mitt Romney somehow wins Ohio, then we will see an electoral map that no one could have reasonably predicted.
FORBES: Which States Will Romney Win And Which Will Obama Win?
Running mate Joe Biden was in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a state that's leaning toward Obama, according to CNN's electoral map.
Here to talk about the polls, the electoral map, the running mates and the convention bounce is NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
According to CNN's electoral map, the states that could go either way are Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
CNN: McCain ahead in national polls; Obama up in electoral votes
Those demographics produce a bright red electoral map that favors Republican.
The Almanac offers a complete guide to the electoral map of Britain, with profiles of every constituency and a biographical profile of every member of parliament.
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Electoral Map Calculator Use this Electoral College map to examine how the presidential candidates may fare in November's election, based on analysis from the CNN Political Unit.
Indeed, women have become critical players in Iran's electoral map.
But all one needs to do is look at the Electoral Map to see that the President is a mere 18 electoral votes shy of the 271 needed to win.
FORBES: The 2012 Election Is Obama's To Win -- Just Look At The RCP Electoral Map
"The Gore people find themselves in a situation similar to us in terms of the electoral map, " says Tony Fabrizio, the chief strategist for GOP nominee Bob Dole in 1996.
CNN: latimes.com: Conventions to fill in portraits of Gore, Bush
If you look at the electoral map, less than three weeks out from election day, you'll see that several of the most reliably red states have moved into toss-up territory.
And that, I think, changes the electoral map in such a way where we're going to have more people ready to move forward on the agendas that we all agree with.
CNN: Transcript of Thursday's Democratic presidential debate
With the Republicans now holding the reins of power in Austin, it is unlikely that the state's electoral map will be so friendly to Democrats after the next redistricting in 2001.
There must have been many others who felt the same sinking feeling: As the colors of the electoral map filled in, my candidate could lose because of me and others like me.
According to CNN's latest analysis of the electoral map, only six states are up for grabs (Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida) and they were all won by President Bush in 2004.
If you look at Obama's falling poll numbers, as well as the influence of the Tea Party and a surging Republican Party, it's abundantly clear the electoral map of 2012 will not look like 2008.
"In 2008, the week before the election I became convinced that Obama had won because he was doing so well in Colorado and Colorado played so prominently in the electoral map at that time, " he says.
The CNN Electoral Map is based on analysis from the CNN Political Unit and takes into account a number of factors, including polling, state voting trends, ad spending patterns, candidate visits and guidance from the campaigns, parties and political strategists.
As CNN's King (John, not Larry) showed on his extraordinary touch-screen electoral map, if McCain were to win every single state that CNN analysts currently put in the "tossup category, " Obama would still win the White House by seven votes in the Electoral College.
The opposition have accused the Conservatives of seeking to "gerrymander" the electoral map in their favour, but the Tories maintain the review will cut the cost of politics, make boundaries much fairer and help address a longstanding bias in the existing set-up favouring their opponents.
First off, the national data as depicted in this chart done up by Kaiser Family Foundation-backed statehealthfacts.org looks like an electoral map, with red states (blue on this map) having high gun death rates, and blue states (orange in this case) having low ones.
Koichi Nakano of Sophia University in Tokyo points out that Japan's distorted electoral map exaggerates the size of the defeat: the DPJ lost heavily against LDP candidates in depopulated rural areas that are considered to be the opposition's heartland, but which produce a disproportionate number of seats.
Taking a look at the Electoral College map: a McCain-Pawlenty team would make the Midwest more competitive.
Welcome to the Forbes Interactive Electoral College Map, where you can predict the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.
Just like recent moves with Congressional redistricting, a review of the new Electoral College map shows how many Americans are moving to states that offer certain advantages.
FORBES: Why Swing State Voters From Ohio Are Easier To Find -- In Florida
It all comes down to the Electoral College map.
FORBES: The 2012 Election Is Obama's To Win -- Just Look At The RCP Electoral Map
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