The first ad of the general election is on the air. We're told it's on running on t.v. stations in 18 states: Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Interesting combination.

Bush won fourteen of the states on that list -- all except Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Those other fourteen have been red states -- John McCain really, really needs to win all of them. This year, they're all in play.