This is a very revealing bit of news from CNN Chief National Correspondent John King (we’ve heard repeatedly that John King is a big fan of John McCain, which heightens our interest in this news).

According to King, inside the McCain campaign, they’re pretty much writing off the chances of winning not only New Mexico and Iowa, but Colorado with its nine electoral votes. Without Colorado, McCain’s path to victory is becoming non-existent. Team McCain is basing all hope on the delusional idea McCain can win Pennsylvania:

The McCain campaign is looking at an Electoral College strategy heading into the final two weeks that has virtually no room for error and depends heavily on a dramatic comeback in Pennsylvania, which hasn’t backed a Republican for president in 20 years. While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak. Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the state. “Gone,” was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states. This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and “most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado.”

This begs the question of whether Chuck Todd will finally tilt Colorado to Obama. NBC’s map has had Obama at 264 electoral votes for the past couple weeks. Colorado would put him over 270 electoral votes in NBC’s projections.