Conservative horcrux Karl Rove is out with his first official electoral college projection of 2012 and… it’s really bullish on Obama. Rove has South Carolina, which McCain won by 9 points in 2008, rated as a toss-up, and Texas–Texas–merely leaning Republican. The result, in Rove’s model, is 284 electoral votes within Obama’s grasp, 172 for Romney and 82 toss-ups.
Now, maybe this is some kind of devilishly brilliant plot to sow complacency among the ranks of the enemy, but Rove’s predictions were pretty spot-on in 2008 and 2010. Either way, it has to be a little spooky for Democrats or Republicans looking at his map. [Via Weigel]