New blow to Pa battleground status

It's a trend we've been following for a few weeks now: Pennsylvania losing its traditional status as a battleground presidential states.

Charlie Mahtesian at Politico has more:

It’s only June, but already Pennsylvania seems to be getting downgraded as a swing state.

National Journal’s Alex Roarty observed Thursday that “evidence is mounting that one traditional battleground state isn't a top target for the Romney campaign: Pennsylvania.”

Today, the NBC News Battleground map has moved Pennsylvania from Toss-up status to Lean Dem, which seems to confirm the zeitgeist surrounding the state.

Why the Pennsylvania move when the current polling suggests that Obama has just a modest lead over Romney? The Romney camp simply isn’t spending the money or building the organization; the state appears to be lower on their target list than others, at least for now. The way Republicans are treating Pennsylvania is akin to how Democrats appear to be treating Missouri.

The NBC and National Journal assessments come after a New York Times report Wednesday that the Romney campaign “is placing a priority on winning Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia and then picking up one ‘wild card’ state from a group that includes Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.”