Gordon Campbell US Election 2012 Blog - Update #4

12.15pm - For what its worth, ABC News is running some early voting result percentages in battleground states, and comparing them
to the 2008 early voting returns :

With one exception, the Democrats still hold an advantage, but smaller than in 2008 which is no surprise. In Colorado though, the situation is reversed from 2008, with Republicans now ahead. Is this early positive news for Romney ?

Once today’s returns start to come in we’ll be following certain counties in Ohio – there are up to 13 counties in Ohio that are significant in various ways. Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Perry etc etc…(Some have even argued that the key factor in Ohio will be the extent to which Obama staunches his losses in the Republican counties and the degree to which he holds in his bastions around Cleveland. If you like, check out the Ohio returns yourself at this official state of Ohio site :

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections.aspx

Similarly in Florida, where the crucial part of the state is the famous I-4 corridor, which runs from the Tampa Bay region in the west through Orlando in the inland centre, to Daytona Beach on the east coast. North of the I-4 corridor is predictably Republican, south of it is fairly solidly for the Democrats. Within the I-4 corridor, the counties around Tampa Bay are the most crucial : Hillsborough and Pinellas County are two of those three key counties. You can follow the Pinellas returns here and the returns for Hillsborough County here :

Least surprising story so far : Daily Kos is reporting that trade unionists in Ohio have voted for Obama.

(Back in 20 minutes)

© Scoop Media