Obama shooting for Montana now?

With less than 48 hours to go before Election Day, talk of the usually reliable red state of Montana going Obama is being seen as a real possibility.

Both CNN and NBC have moved the Big Sky state from leaning McCain to toss-up.

Yee-haw

This isn't the first time Montana has been in the news this election cycle.

You'll remember Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer was the surprise hit of the Democratic National Convention two months ago.  The Governor electrified the crowd causing the networks -- which normally ignore whom they consider b-listers -- to stop their blabbering pundits to carry the high-spirited speech.

“We need all of you to stand up,” he yelled. “Colorado! Stand up! Florida! Stand up! Pennsylvania! Get off your hind end! In the cheap seats! Stand up! We want to hear you from Denver to Detroit, from Montana to Mississippi, from California to Carolinas.”

You want to talk about folksy?  Montana's governor makes Sarah Palin sound like the Queen of England.  (See one of his campaign ads below).

Obama leading

Regardless, the state's in play.  A new CNN poll released on Friday shows Obama actually leading by a point.

"Montana's usually a reliably Republican state in presidential campaigns. It's been won by the Democrats only twice in the past half century. If you're a Republican and you're fighting for Montana in the last few days of the campaign, you're not in good shape," said CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib.

Florida 2000

Get this.  The Obama campaign has shipped 300 lawyers to the Big Sky state to assist with the election.  What will they do?  The Billings Gazette reports they will make sure that voters aren't "turned away or discouraged from voting."

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