Barack Obama and John McCain are tossing the rule book out the window. Both candidates are planning fresh and non-traditional maps, focusing on states that are toss ups. This is what the candidates have said about the coveted prize of New Hampshire, a toss up state that went to John Kerry in 2004.

From Politico: “I intend to be back and back and back, because I love it here,” McCain said at the end of a town hall meeting held to thank the state that launched and then relaunched his presidential hopes. “But also, a little straight talk, because I need to win New Hampshire to win the presidency.”

From the Boston Globe: “I am probably the only candidate who, having won the nomination, can actually redraw the political map,” he [Obama] boasted as early as last summer in New Hampshire, highlighting his support among African-Americans and young voters.

Expect Obama and McCain to campaign heavily in these toss-up states. On Thursday Obama made an appearance at a rally in Virginia, while McCain visited news paper editors in Florida. There are 270 Electoral Votes needed to win the White House.

The following is a list of toss up states I found over at Open Left in a “Presidential Forecast” article by Chris Bowers.
             North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina.

And From Rasmussen: Twelve states with 149 Electoral Votes are either a pure Toss-Up or just slightly leaning to one party or the other. These are likely to be the early battleground states of Election 2008: Florida (27), Pennsylvania (21), Ohio (20), Michigan (17), Virginia (13), Missouri (11), Wisconsin (10), Colorado (9), Iowa (7), Nevada (5), New Mexico (5), and New Hampshire (4).

I suspect, at this time, it will be a close fight till’ the end, with plenty of surprises. Only two days ago, McCain had a slight lead in a Presidential tracking poll. However, today Obama has 45% of the vote, compared to McCain with 40% of the vote.