The Huffington Post is citing new polls that say that Arizona may be a toss-up state in the upcoming Presidential election.
Story here: http://tinyurl.com/6cfhpz
The past couple times I've gotten together with my (admittedly progressive) friends, this has been a topic of discussion. There's a different vibe in Arizona now compared with the 2004 election.
And it makes a lot of sense. Consider the following.
There are a lot of new residents to AZ over the last handful of years - many from CA.
Arizonans are waist deep in the housing/credit crisis, to the point where everyone falls into one of three categories - foreclosed on, in danger of foreclosure, or watching it all play out in horror as their home value falls through the floor.
The old-school "Goldwater" Republicans who care more about fiscal responsibility that social issues have to be disgusted with the Bush Administration.
Add them all together, and it seems like the winds of change could be blowing through AZ. In my own unofficial poll, here's what I see. I drive the same highway from Gilbert to Scottsdale that I did in 2004. In 2004, 90% of the cars were adorned with "Bush/Cheney" stickers. Maybe 1% of the cars had "Kerry/Edwards" stickers. This time around, 90% of the cars have no decoration of any kind. And the 10% that are declaring are split 50/50 between McCain and Obama.
Bottom line: A lot of people aren't talking about who they're voting for. And for a traditional "red" state with a dog in the fight, that can only be a good thing for Obama.
One can only hope.