Obama's 50 state strategy.

Senator Barack Obama’s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states — from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana — as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said.

On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina — a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years — to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964.

I hate it when I see the pundits talking about states that Obama has no chance in and drawing up the election map as if these are absolute certainties. I have always believed that a truly inspirational candidate could redraw this map if they rose above the usual partisan political games and spoke directly to the voters about issues that are important to all of us. It looks like Obama agrees with me on that.

Reagan did that very thing in 1980. I think when Barack talked about being inspired by the Reagan years that is what he was talking about. Not policies but the message. Reagan did make Americans feel good about being Americans and that brought him a lot of support from places that Democrats considered their home turf.

Now the only way that the Republicans can slow Barack down is by tying the albatross of Hillary Clinton around his neck. They know that will ground his unfettered flight around the country and open a wound that the Republicans can focus on to bleed away his support.

Without Hillary there is nothing holding Barack to the old constraints of Red versus Blue. He can redraw the map and remake the country.

Yes he can.