Happy Halloween from the presidential campaigns!
A modest treat from the Obama campaign is above, and here’s a bit of a trick from Team McCain:
We believe this race is winnable, and if the trajectory continues, we will surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed on Election Night.
- National Polls: Major polls last week showed John McCain trailing by double-digit margins – but by the middle of this week, we were within the margin of error on four national tracking surveys. In fact, the Gallup national tracking survey showed the race in a virtual tie 2 days this week.
- State Polls: Iowa - Our numbers in Iowa have seen a tremendous surge in the past 10 days. We took Obama’s lead from the double digits to a very close race. That is why you see Barack Obama visiting the state in the final days, trying to stem his losses. It is too little, too late. Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain’s column.
The Southwest – It is no secret that Republican candidates in the Southwest have to focus on winning over enough Latino and Hispanic voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to carry them to victory. John McCain has overcome challenges Republicans face, and has made up tremendous ground in these states with these voters. For these voters, the choice has become clear, and you have seen a big change in the numbers. John McCain is now winning enough voters to perform within the margin of error – putting these states within reach.
Colorado – Barack Obama tried to outspend our campaign in Colorado during the early weeks of October and finish off our candidate in Colorado. However, after our visit early this week, we saw a tremendous rebound in our poll position, and Colorado is back on the map.
Ohio and Pennsylvania – Everyone knows that vote rich Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key battlegrounds for this election. Between the two: 41 electoral votes and no candidate has gotten to the White House without Ohio. Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been campaigning non-stop in these key battleground states and tonight Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has pumped up our campaign at a rally in Columbus. Our position in these states is strong and undecided voters continue to have a very favorable impression of our candidate.Obama campaign faces tremendous structural challenges in the final days of this campaign
- Obama has a challenge hitting 50%: Barack Obama has not reached the 50% threshold in almost any the battleground state. He consistently is performing in the 45-48% range. When we look closely at the primary votes, we see a history of a candidate whose Election Day performance is often at or behind his final polling numbers. If this is true, our surge will leave Obama with even or under 50% of the vote on Election Day.
- Early Vote: The Obama campaign has promised that their early vote and absentee efforts will change the composition of the electorate. They have sold the press on a story that first time voters will turn out in droves this election cycle. Again, the facts undermine their argument. In our analysis of early voting and absentee votes to date: The composition of the electorate has not changed significantly and most folks who have voted early are high propensity voters who would have voted regardless of the high interest in this campaign.
- Expanding the Field: Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn’t have the votes to win.. . .
On the Ground
Our field organization has tremendous energy and is out-performing the Bush campaign at the same time in 2004. This week our field organization crossed a huge threshold and began reaching more than one million voters per day, and by week’s end will have contacted more than 5 million voters. Our phone centers are full and our rate of voter contact is significantly out-pacing the Bush campaign in 2004.
Ha, ha, ha — funny stuff, guys! (Check out the links for the punch lines.)
Update: As Josh Marshall notes, the most hilarious bit of creative spin here is the notion that Obama’s ramped-up efforts in once-solid (but now unexpectedly competitive) McCain states like North Dakota, Georgia, and Arizona “shows he doesn’t have the votes to win” — as if Team Barack had given up hope of holding off the McCain juggernaut in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Iowa, and other states where Obama’s already in the lead, and instead is looking to turn the tide in states where he’s still trailing.
It’s one of the clues that Rick Davis is just making up BS and hoping someone falls for it, rather than describing a genuine comeback. Another is where Davis gets carried away about imaginary private polling numbers from Iowa; rather than just describing McCain’s position in the state as “strong,” within reach,” or “back on the map,” as he does elsewhere, Davis says, “Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain’s column.” Which other Midwestern states, Davis forgets to explain.