Is John McCain about to give up on Colorado? The Republican is due to visit Denver, Durango, and Colorado Springs, the Evangelical Mecca, on Friday. His running mate, Sarah Palin, was in the state on Monday. But his campaign is busy trying to dampen speculation that it is about to turn out the lights in Colorado.
While McCain is within five or six points of Obama in some polls, the Democrat's spending advantage and his superior ground game have led Republicans to conclude they are unlikely to catch up.
But if not Colorado, then where? It's not like McCain has many other options to reach the White House. Three new national polls by NBC, ABC and the Pew Research Centre show Obama maintaining or expanding his lead over McCain.
In Colorado, Democrats say a high turnout among new voters could swamp the social conservatives and evangelicals who are likely to come out most strongly for McCain.
Local Republicans are also not fully on side with McCain. After eight years of George Bush, Jan Martin, a city council member in Colorado Springs who is a lifelong Republican, says she has just had enough.
