Based on the cartograms in the "Mapping American Politics" feature, and assuming that the states remain in the same categories of "safety" for each party, explain how you as a campaign manager would allocate advertising money in the states of

Question

Ohio, New York, and Texas for a future presidential election. How would you schedule campaign visits to these states?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

An ideal response will:
1, Discuss how the focus for both parties should be on the battleground states, with an even greater desire to focus on large battleground states.
2, Indicate that New York would almost certainly vote Democratic, and Texas would almost certainly vote Republican. Thus, New York is a safe Democratic state, and Texas is a safe Republican state. Therefore, time and money could be better spent in other states.
3, Because Ohio is generally viewed as a swing state, and it is large, both campaigns would spent time and money there. Florida would be another state where the candidates would spent substantial money and visit often.