For Joe Biden, it has always been about Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
From the start of his U.S. presidential campaign until the final day of the race Tuesday, the self-described "scrappy kid from Scranton” believed that rebuilding the Democratic "blue wall” in those states would not only be his strongest path to the White House but also critical for a party that long drew strength from working class and middle class voters in the region.
Now, with Biden edging ahead of President Donald Trump in a nail-biter of an election, the former vice president’s disciplined approach to winning back those northern industrial states — rather than getting distracted by Democratic dreams of a blue Texas — appears to be paying off. Wisconsin and Michigan flipped back to Democrats on Wednesday, moving Biden closer to winning the needed 270 Electoral College votes.