Nightly News   |  November 05, 2012

Strategizing the fastest way to 270

President Obama and Mitt Romney’s travel schedules reveal the states that would help them attain the necessary amount of electoral votes to take the White House. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports.

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>> director chief white house credibility, chuck todd is here with us across democracy plaza from us. and chuck, you're to keeper of the numbers, you have the last wave of polling before going into this thing, and also, what can you discern about the crazy travel schedule?

>> reporter: the president went to these three states here, ohio 's wisconsin , and mitt romney hit these four, but let me show you why they chose this path, pretty simple, the fastest way to the 270 electoral votes for the president's ohio , anlt, iowa six, and wisconsin , gets him there pretty quick, 277, doesn't need iowa , he could actually lose that, but that would be the fastest way, two of those three including iowa and wisconsin . well, mitt romney , florida, 29, virginia's 13, throw in new hampshire's four, and of course he needs the 18 in ohio he would like to get. and that would get him right up at the number there, brian, the 270, so the schedule told you everything.

>> and the battleground state numbers tell us more, chuck.

>> reporter: they do tell you a little more, but there is something is i want to show you about how to watch election night tonight. and that is going to be all the polls that close before 9:00 tomorrow night, look, it is all on the east coast . and we're going to learn something very quickly. are the southern states too close to call by 9:00, brian, or are we calling them for romney fairly quickly? are the industrial states too close to call or are we calling them quickly for obama? that will tell us how the night is going.

>> all right, chuck todd with something of a viewer's guide for tomorrow night, we'll see him, across democracy plaza for