Here's another way of looking at how deep red the different swing states are that we're looking to take this cycle--a look at how seldom they've gone Democratic. (The "LAST" column records the last time they went Democratic pre-1960.)
This was inspired by a little back-and-forth about Montana vs. North Dakota. Although Montana extends the geographic reach of blue farther georgraphically, the fact that Clinton won there as recently as 1992 means it's not really that deep red in time. At least not compared to North Dakota, which has only gone Democratic once since Harry Truman won there in 1948. Make of this what you will in the comments.
(Paul's excellent swing state table can be found in the extended entry--Chris
STATE BLOGS
