The absolutely safe states -- and I number them at ten -- for Republicans are: Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina (which have voted the same in the last 100 years' worth of elections except the last having voted differently in 1960 and 1968; the first two have disagreed only once since they first voted in 1820); Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming; Kansas, Nebraska (statewide and #03), and Oklahoma in the plains and, to the west, Alaska. Now with a partisan advantage for the Republicans are the Bill Clinton-carried Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia. So, that brings it up to 15 states for the GOP. Missouri, a former bellwether which has voted the same as that cluster in every election since 1972, is tilting decisively, but not as dramatically, red. This brings it up to 16 states. They are worth 106 electoral votes.
I would think that if the Dems can take Montana and the Dakotas, then Alaska shouldn't be completely out of reach. Like Montana, it's a very independent state that votes largely based on energy issues.
Also, Alaska has been tilting more and more Democratic with each presidential election.
