Fresh Loaf

A poll released yesterday adds to the evidence that Bob Barr’s presidential run may indeed have turned Georgia from a Republican stronghold into a swing state.

Insider Advantage/Poll Position shows McCain leading Obama 44-43. The poll has a +/-5 percent margin of error, which means the two candidates are essentially tied.

Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, formerly a Republican Congressman from Georgia, nabs 6 percent in the poll. The previous Insider Advantage/Poll Position survey had McCain leading Obama by 10.

Does this mean Obama is going to snatch Georgia’s 15 electoral college votes out of the Republican column come November? Not necessarily.

However, if Bob Barr continues to poll well in Georgia, McCain is going to have to spend time and money campaigning here — time and money he would prefer to spend in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Nevada and New Mexico. If he can’t put Georgia in his column, McCain’s electoral college map looks grim.

For voters, Georgia’s swing state status means we can expect more public campaign appearances from the candidates than we got in 2004.

It will also mean television commercials — lots of them — touting change we can believe in, leadership we can believe in, hope we can hope for, change we can leadership in, hope we change in, etc.

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Tags: 2008 presidential election, Bob Barr, Insider-Advantage, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen.-John-McCain.