THE CASE FOR ALASKA

Barack Obama may be campaigning in notoriously red Alaska at the end of this summer. Even if he can win there, why does he care about a measly three electoral votes?

Well, perhaps because those votes can easily be obtained by swaying a small number of voters -- Alaska has 221,089 people per electoral vote while California, for example has 664,603. Winning over a state that has not elected a Democratic candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson would also make a strong political statement -- exhibiting not just Obama's commitment to the state, but his unwavering dedication to appeal to the whole country. Finally, Obama may be hoping his campaign will help the Democrats running against the state's endangered Republican Senator, Ted Stevens, and congressman, Don Young (a strategy he's pursuing in other states).

--Rachel Stern