Republican officials tell Politico that Obama has "many more routes to victory" than Mitt Romney, but the situation is not hopeless for their candidate.
What gives both camps the sense that Obama is better positioned is the map of 10 states they are fighting on. Two months ago, a top Romney official said they had to have at least one or two of these states in the bag, preferably Florida, to be on course to win. They don't.
"Our problems are Virginia, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire," a top official said. "Our opportunities are Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado. We can't trade our problems for our opportunities and win the presidency. If we trade our problems for our opportunities, we lose."

