But if you live in a less competitive state, where the outcome is assumed, your vote has been written off by the two campaigns. You can take a seat. To them, you're a non-factor. Bush has spent six days in Wisconsin, but only one in Minnesota, a near-lock for the Democrats. Their voters are on the sidelines.
Some people think so.
Candidates perform political triage, and in a close race, the urgency behind this Darwinian targeting is even greater. But the Electoral College has its defenders. In a hot swing state, presidential candidates have to campaign almost like House members, meeting voters, mobilizing local interest groups, dealing with parochial issues. Scholar Judith Best agrees. She sees nothing wrong with the campaigns' laser-like focus on a select group of states, states that typically include the Midwestern industrial belt.