Obama Up With TV Ads In AZ, ND, GA
Barack Obama's camp is launching new TV ads -- "Rearview Mirror" and "Something" -- in three states previously thought to be a lock for John McCain.
NBC/NJ's Athena Jones reports that campaign manager David Plouffe explained the thinking behind the move this a.m. on a call with reporters:
* In Georgia, Plouffe said the campaign did a lot of work there and still has a lot of staff on the ground and that the early vote there was going extremely well, but said "if we win it, we win it narrowly."
* The campaign is running only the positive ad "Something" in Arizona because they are cognizant that it's McCain's home state. Plouffe said they thought a positive ad could help make the case. He said if someone else had been the Republican nominee, Arizona would have been a battleground and that Obama's strong performance with Hispanics in the West was holding true in Arizona as well.
* Plouffe said these states - Arizona, Georgia, North Dakota - were enough in the "realm of possibility" that the campaign wanted to put in the extra effort in the final days
Other broader Plouffe observations:
*The campaign is pleased with the early vote numbers they are seeing in several states. Plouffe said; "we like what we're seeing in all the early vote states." He mentioned North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada in particular. They believe they have built a good enough margin that on Election Day, McCain will have to "not only carry the day but carry it by some margin."
*The campaign won't say what their turnout predictions are but say McCain pollster Bill McInturff's prediction is low (McInturff predict turnout of 130 million)
* They believe the AP survey number saying 1 in 7 voters were still persuadable was high.
* The campaign believes Obama is doing much better with Hispanics in Florida than the Dem noms did in 2004 or 2000. Plouffe said they we doing well among Puerto Ricans, people of Colombian descent and young people of Cuban descent.
* Campaign said some 20 percent of early voters in Florida were African American
* Plouffe said Florida had possibly the biggest pool of sporadic-voting Democrats, and "we think we're on a good trajectory there" in terms of sporadic and new voters.
* They believe their turnout apparatus in North Carolina and Georgia will help downballot Democrats.
* As for Independents, he said that Independents in the West - for instance in Colorado - were leaning toward Obama
During Bush's Presidency, prosperity hit the roof, everyone drove SUV's because gas was cheap, housing industry exploded, we never got attacked. Then the Dems took over two years ago: foreclosures skyrocketed, stock market plummeted, gas $5.00 a gal., unemployment soared, and now Dems want to rule Congress, Senate, AND the Presidency. Does Obamas half-brother or aunt need a few million roommates?
And Hollywood's actors were earning record paychecks because DiCaprio and Streisand, et al, had nothing to whine about, or to, because their paychecks rivaled Wall Streets finest (or lowest).
wow pete, you have quite the selective memory. actually, prosperity peaked in 2000, under the Democratic fiscally conservative Bill Clinton. It was during Bush's two terms that the stock market tanked, terrorists struck our cities, bankruptcies rose, cities flooded, fuel prices skyrocketed, and credit dried up. During the Democrats short two-year span of Congressional power, they have increased student aid and passed a stimulus package.
learn your history before you talk about things you don't understand.
well said Jamon, Pete is clueless and like Palin only reciting the party line, not the truth
I can't wait to see the black, rusty mud on the face of Tucker Bounds, Rick Davis, James Carvelle, Terry McCullough, Bay and Pattie "boy" Buchanan, John King of CNN with his so-called magic mad map, their guest Castellano's. Oh yeah, and that wack job from MN whose running for congress up there with those Gloria Swanson looks, [can't think of her name]. But on the look on the "moose killer" Sarah Palin and butt-crack showing "Joe the income tax evader Plumber WHEN THERE'S A LANDSLIDE IN SENATOR BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOR!!!! I CAN NOT WAIT!!