Weeks ago, our InsiderAdvantage survey indicated that the nation's ninth largest state, Georgia, with its 15 electoral votes, might be up for grabs in the 2008 presidential contest. In recent elections, the state has been a Republican lock.
Consider that metropolitan Atlanta has among its 5 million people a disproportionately large voting population of people under 30 years old. And Georgia has one of the biggest populations of voting-age African Americans in America.
Throw in that former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr is the Libertarian Party's candidate for president, and suddenly the possibility looms that this traditionally conservative state could be a critical scalp on the belt of one Sen. Barack Obama this fall.
For Obama to pull off a victory against Sen. John McCain, many believe he will need to gain key "battleground states" that have not been the focus of attention for presidential candidates in recent years.
Some other key states that could be up for grabs: North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri and several western states, including Minnesota.
And that's where "airline politics" comes into play.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines have announced their intention to merge into one company, to be called Delta and to call Atlanta its headquarters. The idea of losing Northwest as a major corporate citizen is not going over well with the citizens of Minneapolis or Minnesota as a whole.
And to boot, the Republican National Convention is being held in Minneapolis.
The plot thickens: Who will decide if this mega-airline merger is to be or not to be? The Bush Justice Department's Anti-Trust Division, which, fairly or not, will be viewed as reflecting the "Republican" view of the deal.
With major news organizations such as Time magazine now reporting that Georgia is seen as a winnable prize for Obama, one might guess that an approval of the deal might tip Georgia into the McCain camp. But our surveys of that state show little interest or enthusiasm for a merger. The fear in Georgia is that a larger firm might swallow up Delta, with the headquarters going elsewhere. But that is not the case.
Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, there is some question about how popular the GOP might be, despite bringing its presidential nominating business to town. If Republicans are perceived as having brokered a merger deal that shuts down Northwest headquarters there, the party and its candidates may be persona non grata.
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