Given all the political baggage that comes with Hillary Clinton, many Democratic heavy hitters in states that historically go Republican in presidential elections have come out recently for Barack Obama.

The feeling is, he is eminently more electable in GOP strongholds than the polarizing figure of Hillary Clinton:

The string of recent Obama endorsements seems to be more than a coincidence.

During extensive interviews in recent weeks in Republican-leaning states, Politico found widespread belief among current and former Democratic statewide officials that Obama is the more electable candidate with their electorates. These politicians also frequently registered a fear that Clinton’s personality and past history make her too polarizing to win independent and Republican-leaning voters.

The interviewing—which included both on-the-record and on-background exchanges with a couple dozen Democratic politicians—was focused on states that were won both times by Bush but also that were lost at least once by Bill Clinton.

That list includes states, like South Carolina, that have been off the table for generations for Democrats. It also includes places on the edge of the table, like Colorado, which in recent elections has been in play even though Republicans usually win in the end.