Swing counties fill Iowa and impact elections

>>> is joining us now. both side have been spending a lot of time and money here, right?

>> oh, yes, alex. good morning to you. if time and money talks both campaigns are screaming in iowa . in five months they visited 50 times. president obama 15, governor romney 12. the catholic veep candidates truck there as well 20 times. that's a nod to the state's catholic swing vote . cash flows freely here as well. ad spending is the second highest in the country. $22 per person. florida and ohio with up to five times more electoral votes have as little as half that amount per person. now, the more they've invested the tighter the race has gotten. last month the real clear average had them virtually tied. now the president is up by two points and trending flat or declining wild romney is on a steady rise. if the polls aren't so clear there, early voting offers a bit of a hint. as of monday it equals almost 20% of estimated turnout and favors democrats two to one. but some watchers say it's election day swing votes that make the difference. and it's swing voters in these 21 swing counties that hold the keys. sprinkled across the state, iowa has 20% of all swing counties nation-wide. the state has long been pivotal. richard nixon traveled there as vice president when running for the white house . he won the state. as did ronald reagan . iowa was close to the beginngipper as well. he broadcast for university of iowa football this time 30s. bill clinton was the last democrat iowa picked up before obama. in the 90s he could be found sharing his home state's common rural roots on campaign stops. this year is no difference here, alex. campaigns have an eye on iowa , a state that's picked seven of the last ten presidents of the united states .

>> so that is the common thread between those three we were talking about. richard nixon , ronald reagan , bill clinton . it's all about iowa . thank you for breaking it down.