Arizona : Obama strategists are kicking the tires with a three-month-long voter registration effort. They are simply following the same techniques they used in 2008 when putting states like North Carolina and Indiana into play. Then, too, there was much initial skepticism, though both states ended up going for Mr. Obama

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POLITICO.COM
Is Arizona up for grabs in November?
By CHARLES MAHTESIAN
April 19, 2012

Is Arizona up for grabs in November?

Some excerpts :

That's the question looming in the background as Joe Biden arrives in Phoenix for a Thursday fundraiser.

The Obama campaign insists that it is, pointing to the swirl of demographic change that is beginning to reorder state politics. They've even gone so far as to kick the tires with a three-month-long voter registration effort.

From Adam Nagourney's New York Times dispatch earlier this week:

Obama strategists are simply following the same techniques they used in 2008 when putting states like North Carolina and Indiana into play. Then, too, there was much initial skepticism, though both states ended up going for Mr. Obama.

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Public polling earlier in the year suggested that Arizona was in reach for Obama and his strength with Hispanic voters will help, but Romney has some important advantages in Arizona that he doesn't have elsewhere. For one, he begins the fall campaign well-organized in the state, a vestige of the state's February 28 GOP primary. Republicans also have a registration edge of 181,000 voters over Democrats -- and Arizona's relatively high Mormon population will likely provide Romney with a boost.

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