By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.

The Democratic presidential candidate is putting money and manpower in those seven traditionally GOP states -- at levels unmatched by Republican rival John McCain.

For decades, these states have rarely seen any campaign action. Now they are emerging as new battlegrounds.

"We have the organizational ability and the financial ability to compete there," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said recently. "There is not a head fake among them."

Undeterred, senior McCain strategist Steve Schmidt said: "We feel very confident about holding these states."

In the historically GOP bastions, Obama has run five weeks worth of TV ads and dispatched workers to sign up legions of unregistered voters. Among their targets are blacks and young people, two constituencies that favor Obama but historically have been unreliable voters.

McCain is largely absent in the states, trusting for now that right-leaning roots will prevail.

But Republicans -- even some skeptical Democrats -- claim Obama simply is trying to lure McCain into spending money defending GOP turf so he has less to compete with elsewhere.

Indeed, cash flow is a major factor; McCain must be careful with his money because he is accepting public financing and the spending limits that come with it.

Virginia

Of the cluster, Virginia is most likely to go Democratic, so McCain is competing in earnest.

Obama is advertising statewide and has opened several offices, and there is talk of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as a running mate.

McCain's headquarters is in Northern Virginia, and he has a full paid Virginia campaign staff. So far, he's on the air only in the Washington, D.C., media market that serves the burgeoning Northern Virginia suburbs.

Democrats say the growing numbers of young, left-leaning professionals in the north and the state's large percentage of blacks -- one in five -- as well as untapped pools of potential voters make Virginia a ripe target.

North Carolina and Georgia

The situation is similar in two other fast-growing southern states.

North Carolina has seen an influx of retirees, while workers flock to high-tech and banking hubs.

"You're definitely getting a new mix," said Bill Peaslee, a former state GOP chief of staff. "Some of the old givens are no longer true. It's not how it was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago."

Voter registrations are up, blacks are signing up in record numbers and a Democrat is governor. McCain is sending a full paid staff to North Carolina but is running no ads for now.

Georgia has a Republican governor and legislature. Even so, Democrats see an opening among blacks, who now make up 30 percent of its population.

Libertarian Party candidate Rep. Bob Barr, formerly of the GOP, is from Georgia and could draw off conservative votes there.

Indiana

In Indiana, Obama could benefit from his ties to the populous, heavily black northwest corner that's within Chicago's media market. He's also counting on liberal-leaning university towns such as South Bend and Bloomington. Choosing Sen. Evan Bayh as his running mate would give Obama a boost.

Since 1936, Democrats have won Indiana just once in presidential elections -- in 1964. Still, they have had some success on the state level and ousted three GOP incumbent congressmen in 2006. Working-class Indiana whites pose hurdles for Obama, who narrowly lost the state's primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Montana and North Dakota

Democratic statewide victories have emboldened Obama to make plays for Montana and North Dakota. Republicans say Democrats who win in those states are moderate and Obama is not. Obama won both primaries.

In Montana, Bill Clinton showed it's worth it for a Democrat to try hard; he narrowly won it in 1992 but narrowly lost it four years later. President Bush, however, won by enormous margins.

But Democrats took the governor's office in 2004 and booted a GOP senator facing corruption allegations two years later.

North Dakota has a GOP governor but has had an all-Democratic congressional delegation for more than two decades. Still, no Democratic presidential candidate has won the state in more than 30 years.

Obama has opened offices in North Dakota's four largest cities and has visited twice since wrapping up the nomination.

"Barack Obama coming up here and competing here is going to force John McCain to make a choice," said Jamie Selzler, the state party director. "For everything that McCain does up here, that's a little bit less that he can do in these big battleground states we always hear about."

Alaska

In Alaska, it's been three decades since a Democratic nominee won the state. Republicans dominate the levers of power, but corruption has rocked the party, including the latest black eye: the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens.