George W. Bush's re-election campaign has targeted two states in the upper Midwest -- Minnesota and Wisconsin -- as the most likely "Blue" states carried by Al Gore in 2000 that could turn "Red" in 2004.
President Bush's analysts are less optimistic about three big industrial states -- Pennsylvania, Illinois and Michigan -- going Republican. They are viewed by the Bush camp as trending Democratic.
The Bush camp is concerned about not only Florida but also Arizona and Nevada remaining Red in '04 because of the increased Hispanic population in those states. For the same reason, New Mexico does not seem a good prospect for Bush, even though Gore won there in '00 with a virtual tossup.
POSTHUMOUS ENDORSEMENT
Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, claims that the posthumously announced endorsement of Howard Dean by her fellow Illinoisan, former Sen. Paul Simon, was limited in scope.
Attending Simon's memorial service in Carbondale, Ill., Braun was stunned to hear former U.S. District Judge Abner Mikva in his eulogy say the late former senator before his death expressed support for Dean. She turned to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and whispered, "That (endorsement) applied only to the Iowa caucuses."
A footnote: Close associates of Daley say he is concerned about Dean as a general election candidate but has no plans to endorse anybody for president.