Omaha's electoral vote draws Obama's attention

[ClarkUSA]

Team Obama goes hunting for every electoral vote it can. GObama!!

OMAHA, Neb. - Reliably Republican, Nebraska has been giving the GOP all its electoral votes in every presidential election since 1964. Democratic candidate Barack Obama is trying to take just one of its five votes this year by focusing on Omaha, the state's biggest, most diverse city.

"If the major competitive states are split, we could be talking about a situation where one electoral vote matters," said Randall Adkins, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Only Nebraska and Maine divide their electoral votes, though the votes have never actually been split. Obama has opened a campaign office in Omaha to make a play for the electoral vote decided by results in the 2nd Congressional District, which would be essential to victory if the election ended in a 269-269 electoral tie, neither candidate reaching the mandatory 270 electoral votes.

Such a tie could happen, say Nebraska Democrats, if Obama and Republican John McCain were to take most of the states they're expected to win and if Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico were to switch from Republican to Democrat. Instead of a tie, they say, Obama would win 270-268 if he won the 2nd District.

The Obama campaign started canvassing Omaha neighborhoods last month.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080909/ap_on_el_pr/nebraska_split_vote