John McCain got a big welcome at one of the biggest motorcycle rallies in South Dakota, a state that he has a good chance to win in November.

McCain flew in the face of public opinion and the wishes of the Iraq government when he criticized Barack Obama for wanting to set a date for troop withdrawal from Iraq. The polls show that a majority of Americans want the troops to come home within a year or16 months at the outside. The government of Iraq also wants to take control of their country and feels that they are able to take over. He was also critical of the fact that congress went on vacation without passing an energy bill.

Why did McCain pick South Dakota to speak to middle class Americans? McCain did very well in the South Dakota primaries, winning with 70% of the vote. Obama lost to Clinton in South Dakota by a margin of 55 to 45%. Both primaries were closed primaries, so only Democrats voted in the Democratic primary and only Republicans in the Republican primary. The latest poll from South Dakota was taken by Rasmussen Reports on July 15th and it shows McCain leading Obama by a margin of 47 to 43%.

South Dakota is considered to be leaning towards McCain, not quite solidly in his column. In the past 10 elections South Dakota has voted Republican every single time and they have picked the winner 5 times.

Taking all of this into consideration, this is a state that McCain should have in his column. If he were not to win South Dakota, it would be considered a big up set, no matter how the national election goes. McCain needs every electoral college vote he can get. While the popular vote puts him and Obama only a couple of percentage point away from each other, Obama has a huge lead in the Electoral College count and McCain needs the 3 from South Dakota as well as every one of the swing states to close the gap.

South Dakota is one of the states that is going to be watched very closely from here on out. One thing that could push the state to one column or the other is the choice each candidate makes for Vice President. That situation will be settled very soon and then it will be time to take another look at South Dakota and see which candidate made the right pick, at least as far as South Dakota is concerned.