Battling Over The Big Three

How the race could be decided by a few blocs in a few places

It may be called a national election, but a presidential contest is really a set of 50 simultaneous state elections. And the grand prize goes to the candidate who can put together victories in the right combination of states to win the magic 270 electoral votes. In recent years, that has been easy for Republicans, given their virtual lock on the electoral votes of the South and West. But this year Michael Dukakis and George Bush start from a near standoff in the number of electoral votes represented by states solidly for them or leaning their way. So the election seems...

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