Tagged: Mitt Romney

In some states, the 2012 presidential election is turning into a race of who can support coal more.

That's not really in Kentucky, or in West Virginia, where voters will reliably lean Republican in national elections. But as McClatchy Newspapers reports, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are focusing on nearby Ohio.

The two-party system may dominate politics, but Kentuckians will still have a host of options when it comes to voting for a presidential candidate this fall.

In addition to the two major party candidates, two other political parties have qualified their candidates in Kentucky.

The Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein will join well-known candidates Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama on the ballot.

Also listed will be at least three other write-in slates and Independent candidate Randall Terry of West Virginia.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is worried that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will not have enough Electoral College votes to beat President Obama this fall.

National polls show the race is a statistical tie in a popular vote with a slim margin of undecided voters, but the winner of the White House is the candidate who captures 270 electoral votes. A review of most interactive maps show Mr. Obama edging out Romney in November by winning key swing states.

Paul says there are a handful of states that are evenly divided and Romney will have to win most of them, adding the GOP will have to examine its electoral map strategy in future races.

"It’s tougher and tougher for Republicans because we don’t compete very well in the west coast (and) we don’t compete very well New England. Once you give up all those votes then you got to win pretty much the rest of the country," he says. "And that’s one of the messages I’ve had to the national Republican Party. You know what? Those areas where you’re not competing maybe a libertarian Republican would do better in California or New York state."