Election Central Morning Roundup
Polls: Obama Way Ahead In Four Battleground States
A new set of polls from Quinnipiac gives Barack Obama very strong leads in four key swing states: He's up 52%-43% in Colorado, 54%-38% in Michigan, 51%-40% in Minnesota, and 54%-37% in Wisconsin. Three of these four states have gone Democratic in the past two elections -- though by close margins -- and Colorado would represent a pick-up in the Dem column away from the GOP.
McCain To Unveil New Economic Proposals Today
John McCain will use his rally today in Pennsylvania as a platform to unveil new proposals on the economy, billed as his "Pension And Family Security Plan," an issue area that has in large part contributed to Barack Obama's lead in the polls. The plan will combine capital-gains tax cuts with a proposal to have the government buy out variable-rate mortgages and replace them with more manageable fixed-rate loans.
Obama Off The Trail, Biden Swinging Through Ohio
Barack Obama has no public events today, probably due to final preparations for tomorrow's debate. Joe Biden is touring Ohio today, with multiple events: A 10:30 a.m. ET rally in Warren, a 4 p.m. ET rally in St. Clairsville, and a 7:15 p.m. ET rally in Marietta.
McCain And Palin In Pennsylvania
John McCain and Sarah Palin are both campaigning today in Pennsylvania, a large swing state that has been slipping away from them in the polls. McCain is holding an 11:30 a.m. rally in Blue Bell, and Palin has a 2 p.m. ET rally in Scranton.
RNC Spending More And More Money On Ads
The Republican National Committee has shelled out $5 million to run two of their TV ads against Barack Obama -- one that attacks him as a Chicago machine politician, and the other that tags him as a big spender. The RNC has raised roughly $50 million more than the DNC, which has essentially made up for Barack Obama's cash advantage over John McCain's individual campaign committee.
McCain Camp Caught Lying About Crowd Sizes Again
The McCain campaign has again been caught puffing up the number of people who attend their rallies. The campaign claimed that 25,000 people attended John McCain's Virginia Beach rally -- but the venue only holds 16,000, and the fire marshall estimated that only 12,000 people were in attendance.
McCain Camp Caught Lying About Crowd Sizes Again
Really? Is it worth the risk of being caught out to inflate these numbers? Everyone knows Obama pulls a bigger crowd. Get over it McShame!
October 14, 2008 9:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
They lie so much that perhaps we should only report when they tell the truth.
October 14, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
That would be the Crickets Report.
October 14, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed. It's only man bites dog when they don't lie.
October 14, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Michigan is still considered a battleground state?
October 14, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
PA too. Hasn't that been in the Solidly Obama category for weeks now?
October 14, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
PA hasn't been a battleground state for at least a couple of weeks. I think most organizations have moved it to solid Obama (save the news organizations).
October 14, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I guess it really is true that reality has a liberal bias.
October 14, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
the poll tracker lists co-sen as udall leading pierce but that would be nm-sen actually.
co-sen is udall leading shaeffer(sp?)
October 14, 2008 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
and as quick as that, it's fixed
October 14, 2008 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps 25,000 was the crowd's collecive IQ.
October 14, 2008 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
One would think that the McCain would spend time in a state they have a more reasonable chance to take like FL or MO. Not that I'm complaining.
October 14, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
A red state like Missouri, in which SUSA finds an eight-point Obama lead.
October 14, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect they understand that their only path to victory is to take Pennsylvania and hope that the polls showing them losing states that Bush won turn out to be wrong. There was a statement of this variety when they pulled out of Michigan, with a McCain spokesman saying they "assume" that traditionally Republican states like Virginia and Florida will go that way again. If they spend their time playing defense, they've already lost, and if they jump around based on the latest poll numbers, it won't work either, so they've apparently decided on PA as the place to play offense.
It's a longshot, but that's all they've got.
October 14, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pennsylvania? THey're really spending another day in a state they have no chance of winning? Every day, another mind-boggling move.
October 14, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
To even have one there is questionable, but both of them. Palin should be in CO or MO. Or WV for that matter. They really don't have a clue, it would seem.
October 14, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hush! Every day Palin stays out of my state of Colorado is happy day full of rising Obama poll numbers and increasing hope of ousting Marilyn Musgrave.
But yeah, it is utterly mystifying as to why so much attention is being lavished on Pennsylvania when it is so clearly in the tank for Obama.
October 14, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
They just don't have a clue. Not one between the entire campaign. McCain's economic policy proposals don't include a SINGLE stimulus measure. Not one. Amazing.
October 14, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Clueless, or working from different data? They have certainly made a lot of mistakes, but this one is so fundamental I would have to think that their internal polling data is saying something else.
Then again, if you are losing this bad, why protect the red states? So you lose by a smaller margin? You swing for the fences and try to turn a big blue one, and maybe, if Cheney can toss in a little surprise, you can win.
October 14, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Steady hand on the tiller, you know.
October 14, 2008 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am barely above a lab in political intelligence but the incredible fantastic blunders in campaigning that McCain makes is just mindblowing. I swing between laughing in glee or wondering if I have totally missed what is going on. Inflating numbers AGAIN? Never in my lifetime have the republicans run such a .... words fail .... campaign. Is this disaster due to McCain? I can't wait for the wrap up after November 4. Even republican pundits have given up.
October 14, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course they have their own data showing that what they're doing is right. It was very carefully cherry-picked.
We're not really talking about a campaign (or party) that has really shown a lot of respect for objective analysis of scientific data.
October 14, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain caught lying about crowd sizes again: Are we surprised?
October 14, 2008 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain caught lying again: Are we surprised?
Fixed that for ya.
October 14, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
lol...thanks.
October 14, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's funny because it's true!
McCain has to lie about the numbers so he can accuse the press of lying about numbers.
October 14, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Coulda been worse. You could have made it "McCain Caught Lying About Size Again."
October 14, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
... he did meet Cindy at the hors devoures table..
October 14, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. Instead of the Jumbo Shrimp she went for the mini-weiners. Bad move, Cindy!
October 14, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
don't know whether to laugh or to throw up....
October 14, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michigan shouldn't be considered a battleground state. As I recall McCain surrendered. I wonder why Minnesota is still a battleground. Obama has won 9 out of the last 10 polls. Lately by larger and larger margins. I would add West Virginia and Missouri to the list.
October 14, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
i'll let eric call these states 'battleground' states. it wasn't so long ago he insisted on calling them 'must-wins'...
October 14, 2008 9:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
To see real videos of real women discussing their reactions to Sarah Palin & the misuse of gender issues in this year's presidential race, please take a look at the following blog:
www.speakoutonpalin.blogspot.com
October 14, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Love those numbers!
And yesterday Obama up by 17 pts. in my home state of Oregon. We start voting next week. Jeff Merkley is leading Gordon Smith too.
McPalin in Pa. You gotta love that.... entirely wasted effort. Worst campaign in history! And apparently the old guy is so panicked he can't spare a day to prepare for the debate.
October 14, 2008 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know what is truly frightening, and something lost in the discourse? Imagine if Palin and co. were actually running a competent campaign. Imagine if they were more subtle and nefarious with their smears. Imagine if she appeared to be the American Dream to average voters' longer than a few weeks after the convention speech. Imagine if there weren't the youtube videos. Imagine her parading into the White House. Then imagine it taking four years to truly discover the depth of her actual worldview.
October 14, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can anyone tell me the last time McCain/Palin were in a "real" battleground state? Over the past week+ they've been in Wisconsin, Iowa and Pennsylvania.
October 14, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
My only guess is that they want to create the impression that McCain is on the offensive and not in a defensive stance, trying to protect '04 red states, which is of course the reality.
October 14, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Having already secured NM & IA, Colorado gives Obama the win - 273. As long as he holds all of Kerry's states he just needs those 3. After that it's all gravy. No need to be anxious about Ohio or Fla. But if he wins either or both of those, plus VA, NC and/or NV, he has the first big presidential win since GHW Bush.
Remember, Clinton never won 50% of the popular vote. And W... well, we know the story there. So a big win would give Obama far greater legitimacy and support than a president has had in 20 years. And with a Dem congress he really will have the frequently invoked "mandate" that presidents often claim but rarely have. This really should be an amazing ride we're about to take.
October 14, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's crazy to me that Clinton could carry 31 states, get 379 electoral votes and still only 49% of the popular vote.
October 14, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not as crazy to me as Obama failing to get 100% of the vote. I mean, sheesh!
October 14, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, you're right. Failure reaches new definitions this year!
October 14, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
These comments are only part snark...
As long as one red state remains, (Oklahoma's probably not turning blue) the Hannity's and Limpaughs and Thavages will continue to suggest Obama can't "close the deal with mainstream America..."
October 14, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're forgetting the Ross Perot vote. That's the reason.
October 14, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
These facts scare the hell out of McCain. He can talk all he wants about Bill Ayers, taxes, etc., but he knows that unless the floor falls out from under Obama, the election is lost.
Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado. Ballgame.
My first successful comment since the TPM re-boot. Hoorah!
October 14, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has erased traditional Republican advantages in four key bellwether counties that Bush won in 2000 and 2004, according to a new Politico/InsiderAdvantage survey. Each county is critical to the outcome in the battleground state where it is located.
In Reno, Nevada's Washoe County, Obama leads McCain by a 46-45 percent margin, with six percent undecided. Obama posts a wider 50-44 percent lead with five percent undecided in Raleigh, North Carolina's Wake County, and another 6-point lead in Hillsborough County, Fla., where Tampa is located. There, he edges McCain 47-41 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
Source: Politico
October 14, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Those are 4 counties Politico focused on. But I suspect the Obama campaign - which has targeted specific counties in red states across the country - could supply us with quite a few more. That's a fundamental part of their campaign ground game: research what counties Dems have done reasonably well in within red states and build from there.
October 14, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
And the best part? President Obama will not swagger onto the national stage, proclaiming that he has a mandate. He won't gloat that he has political capital and he's gonna spend it.
President Obama won't paint those who didn't vote for him with the broad brush of "if you're not with us, you're against us."
No, President Obama will do something we haven't seen in the past eight years. He will bring this country together with common purpose.
And I, for one, cannot wait.
PEACE
October 14, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
And he'll need it, because the Right's playbook of systematically taking him down will be operational even before he takes the oath of office. We shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that what was done to Bill Clinton (the Scaife-funded Arkansas Project and associated Kenn Starr witch hunt) was an aberration.
October 14, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
True - but I also think his judgment and behavior are a helluva lot better than Clinton's. Clinton gave the creeps too much ammo to work with in the first place.
October 14, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Fear not. From this week's New Yorker, re: Obama's staff:
"Thus far, nobody leaks, nobody bickers in a way that can be discerned by outsiders, and there are not obvious camps. The general feel of the campaign, both in its spread-out virtual form and at its headquarters, is a little like that of the Microsoft campus in the 1990s, or the Google campus today: everybody seems young, trim, competent, cool and casual, but casual in a 'you and I both know that we're ferocious and brilliant and we're going to crush the other team' way...the Obama people think of themselves as future-oriented strategic thinkers, not old-fashioned, gooey, Eleanor Roosevelt-style humanitarians - as people who get it, the 'it' being the new realities of the 21st century."
Whereas, the Republicans? Not even planning a transition team, bitching about Ayers and Wright and shooting wolves from helicopters.
October 14, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why is the RNC wasting more money attacking Obama? Wouldn't it make more strategic sense to spend those bucks on congressional/senatorial races to try to blunt the Democratic juggernaut and maintain a check on the Presidency?
I don't understand much of what the Republicans are doing this year. It seems that their collective political IQ took a severe dive somewhere in the last 18 months, starting with the running of a field of totally unviable presidential candidates.
October 14, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
[SHHHH -- they might hear you.]
All I know is that if I were the GOP, I'd take out loan after loan to produce new Obama attack ads. One after the other. I'd mortgage my future on it. Yup, that's what I'd do.
October 14, 2008 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well actually they are, after a fashion. I can't say this with absolute certainty, but I would guess that most of those Wall St. investment banks are run by Republicans (except for those that Corzine still might dabble in). Since they get to secure their salaries with $700,000,000,000 (is that enough zeros?) from the U.S. Treasury, they're free to donate to the max to the RNC.
The socialization of private debt has a whole plethora of unintended consequences, some (most?) of which are just ducky for the ubercapitalists.
October 14, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
at this point it seems their spending is designed to poison the inevitable obama victory. this i really the beginning of the rnc's campaign against president obama's next four years.
that, and they're probably angling for american racism and fear to make a better showing in the voting booth than it has in the polls.
October 14, 2008 10:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, that makes sense for the current spending. But how do you account for them running Tweedle Dumb against Tweedle Dumber in the primaries? It's the Party That Can't Shoot Straight (props to Jimmy Breslin, not John McCain) from the very beginning.
October 14, 2008 10:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Other than Hagel, who do you suppose they could have run who wasn't in the Tweedle family?
And even Hagel's too right wing for this election season, so who could the R's have run against Obama?
Just to support my point that they have NO ONE, remember George "Macaca" Allen? And Bill "The Catslayer" Frist? And Rick "Dog-love" Santorum?
Not very long ago, those three names were all being regularly posited by hack papers like the Washington Times and hackier poundits like Limpaugh and Hannity, as the future potential Republican Presidential candidates.
Where are they now?
Even Chris Cilizza at The Fix in the WaPo seemed sluggishly slow to take his own readers' sage advice that "the times, they are a changin'."
If you consider how high those three were flying back then, and how far they fell in 2006, it is a wonder ANY Republican remains to stand against the Democrats.
Perennial Johnny jumped-up and took the wheel. Like Bob Dole, he's willing to run even if the experts know he will lose.
October 14, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder when the Obama folks will give us the Sept numbers....
October 14, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
On the 20th
October 14, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, I am an economic ignoramus. Can anyone comment on McCain's "big new economic plan" and what it means (either in economic or political terms)? Is it total crapola, does it have any good parts, is it likely to give him any traction, etc.? Thanks!
October 14, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm trying to ignore the polls, but I can't help it. I can't wait for this madness to end. What makes it worse is that the MSM is constantly trying to find a way to give McCain a chance to feed their horse race narrative. Forget racism: Obama's biggest foe over the next three weeks is the MSM in all its ADD glory.
October 14, 2008 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
The new McCain line per his CNN interview with Dana Bash- Obama is a LIAR.
His examples- Obama said Ayers was a "guy in his neighborhood" and Obama promised to sit down with McCain before Obama made a decision about public financing which did not happen.
This line will never take hold- people simply do not perceive Obama as a liar. Period.
October 14, 2008 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Meanwhile, Big Mac himself lied when he said he heard similar hate speech at Obama rallies. When, exactly, were you at an Obama rally? And what did you hear, exactly?
October 14, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
So, not to be all off-topicy, but could somebody please explain what's going on with the "recommended reader posts" now? Not to say they're not worthy, but the one at the top has seven recs, the one at the bottom has one rec. and the ones that were there when I logged in earlier this morning that had 20+ recs (and yes, including one of mine and that is why I'm asking) and had been up for considerably less than 24 hours have vanished.
So is the objective to get the fewest recs now? Or are we just using a random number generator to determine what gets to be a recommended reader post? Or is it that the number of recs just isn't showing up correctly and all of the ones there now pushed the ones that were there before off the board? Or are we just resetting at 9:00 no matter when the ones that were there before were posted?
C'mon guys, how can you expect us to game the system if you won't tell us what the rules are?
And yes, a little cheese to go with my whine would be lovely, thank you.
October 14, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
The new system has squished my favorite avatar into illegibility! Shame, SHAME, TPM.
Bring back full-size Help, Help I'm Being Enlightened!
October 14, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama up by five in OH, by 15 in PA, New SUSA polls, see above. Love it!
October 14, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jesus Christ -- these people are intellectually, morally and fiscally bankrupt Johnny-one-notes!
Is there no problem that can't be solved by yet another capital gains tax cut, further biasing our system toward taxing work rather than wealth?
What reality are they living in? As if anyone is avoiding the stock market because they're afraid of having to pay a 15 percent (or is it 10 percent now?) tax in the event they actually make any money on their investment.
Give me a fucking break. McShame and the GOP are out of ideas, out of time and about to be drummed out of office. As they should be.
October 14, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not to mention that capital gains are going to be rather rare items on people's 1040s for the foreseeable future, so cutting the tax on them is kind of like eliminating sales tax on green cheese from the moon in terms of economic impact.
October 14, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perfect analogy!
October 14, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
And more importantly- in this market, who in the world is actually getting ANY return from capital gains?
Why McCain doesn't start simply pandering to the middle class at this point is beyond me. He'd probably pick up 3 points in the polls if he just started yapping about middle class tax cuts for a few days.
October 14, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the thing: McShame is so clueless that I bet you he thinks a capital gains tax cut will actually appeal to the middle class.
October 14, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Most Americans' stock holdings are in 401ks and IRAs, which are not subject to capital gains taxes anyway, so a capital gains tax reduction won't help the middle class much. Cindy, on the other hand, will benefit greatly.
October 14, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's interesting that McCain spent two or three days in isolation prepping for the second debate, but for the upcoming final debate he's on the road campaigning.
October 14, 2008 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
He also has very little going on with a transition team, compared to Obama, who has a large group of advisors working on transition now.
But in McCain's mind, saying he "knows how" to fix the economy/get bin Laden, etc., is enough. He's a POW and a maverick, so we must take him at his word without question.
Sayin' it don't make it so, Johnny-Boy.
October 14, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was surprised last weekend at how many Obama/Biden yard signs I saw, many of them home made, in southwestern Wisconsin small towns and countryside. I would have figured the country folk to be mostly GOP. The more upscale subdivisions had more McCain and NOBAMA signs, though.
October 14, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
No one has yard signs around here in downtown Charleston, SC My friend put up an obama sign that was stolen. I have seen very few McCain signs - two or three. I think republicans have just given up, espcially after Palin was brought on board. I have seen lots of Obama bumper stickers on cars - more than I ever dreamed in this area.
October 14, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
An Obama supporter here in Kansas, who lives across the street from an Evangelical chirch that was one of the Bill Frist video sites, had to make up a second sign to place beside their Obama yard sign, that says "don't steal our Obama signs" because so many of them are being stolen or destroyed.
More proof that the last 8 years of lawlessness has created a class of rogues who believe even federal laws against such antics as steakling and damaging yard signs can be ignored.
Will that be Bush's real legacy? That during his tenure, he allowed the extreme elements on the right to crystalize (kristolize) a delusion of being above the law? And they are raising their kids under that delusion.
Bush Era Lawlessness is like a cancer on our whole society. And throughout the Bush years, it has metastacized, and at times, it seems terminal.
October 14, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't it a month ago when Palin looked like a superstar and the nat'l. polls were showing McCain with a big lead that Plouffe and Axelrod held a conference call and said the plan was on track?
One particular quote I remember is that without CO McCain had less than a 5% chance of winning. Let's turn his flank and kick him in the ass. Make the RNC abandon his rotting hulk of a campaign to turn their resources to saving the rest of the house and senate rats leaving his sinking ship. Nothing will depress their turnout more than a death watch on McCain's campaign and "what went wrong" stories in the media the last week.
October 14, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's amazing, looking back on it, to think McCain even got the bounce he did after the convention. That weirdo spike in the polling must have had them partying like crazy in Arlington. "We're gonna win! We're gonna win!" You can almost hear Schmidt popping Budweisers with starry-eyed staffers over the erection-inducing position they appeared to be in.
Everyday since has been a worsening hangover from the interminable nightmare that is their campaign, a campaign that makes Dole '96 look like Reagan '84 by comparison.
F*cking delicious.
October 14, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
One of the obligations of the presidential candidate is to get members of their own party elected as well. It's very possible that while PA might be Obama territory, local races are much tighter. The RNC could have said "you'll be in PA for our local race support if you want money out of us." The RNC holds the purse strings now. I sense that the RNC knows they're going to lose the White House, and shoring up the Senate and House are their real priorities.
October 14, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Geez. Just what we need. More of the tax burden shifted from wealth to earned income. Dividends and gains from capital investments are already taxed at a much lower rate than income, and gains are also tax-deferred until the property is sold. These are incentives for investment that are presently lucrative enough. How about let's try easing the burden on those whose livelihood comes from work and not from wealth?
October 14, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain campaign has again been caught puffing up the number of people who attend their rallies. The campaign claimed that 25,000 people attended John McCain's Virginia Beach rally -- but the venue only holds 16,000, and the fire marshall estimated that only 12,000 people were in attendance.
This is a bit like a guy who claims not to worry about his "size" and that "it doesn't really matter", then lying and adding 2-3 inches to it. Clearly the McCain Campaign has a serious case of Crowd Size Envy at the size of the crowds Obama is drawing.
And no... that's not a riff on "white guy feeling inferior about black guy's size". Let's be honest - HRC would be out drawing them if she won the nomination, and the McCain campaign would have the same bout of Crowd Size Envy and would be lying about their own Crowd Size.
John
October 14, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone else get the feeling that this was over about the time Obama established his lead over CLINTON? And everything since has been political kabuki?
Maybe the economy's recent woes turned what was inevitably a big vistory for Obama into an historic landslide, but I still get the feeling this was over about the time Hillary had to pull out the kitchen sink in Texas. Iowa alone may have been all the proof we needed that Obama was cruising to a world-shaking win.
McCain/Palin used up the kitchen appliances long ago, now they've ripping out the toilets to load onto their campaign trebouchet, with Palin at the trigger.
And even those flying crappers don't seem to be working. Obam's on his way to the White House, and if not for the media milking McCain's campaign for every penny of ad revenue, we would probably have known weeks ago.
October 14, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I live in Colorado. I haven't seen a McCain ad in, at least, a week. I've seen numerous Obama ads in that time.
It seems unlikely (since McCain needs to hold the Bush 2004 states), but has McCain pulled out of Colorado?
Derek
October 14, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
"It seems unlikely..."
No it seems quite likely. But it will take folks like you to tell us about it.
This is the most tell-tale sign of campaign failure available to the public, when a candidate abandons a swing state to concentrate money elsewhere.
Keep in mind, though, that the conspicuous absence of McCain ads in states like Colorado isn't going to get much press because they are the beneficiaries of campaign ad money.
Which is why we depend on our fellow bloggers, from the 9th level up, to keep us all posted. The media won't do it.
October 14, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I worry these poll numbers might tighten as the DOW surges, even though the crisis is far from over for the American people. But hopefully Obama's organization/ground game and strategic advertising are what is actually effecting the polls in these swing states. Along with the voters' rejection of Palin as a credible VP candidate.
October 14, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink