October 2, 2008
Posted: October 2nd, 2008 09:01 PM ET
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand (CNN) - On the heels of a string of new polls that suggest Barack Obama is gaining an edge in several key battleground states, John McCain’s campaign told reporters Thursday that the Democrat and his campaign were “frustrated” by their showing in recent surveys. “I am sure Barack Obama and his campaign today are frustrated,” McCain senior advisor Greg Strimple told reporters on a pre-debate conference call. “Despite the negative campaign they have run for three weeks, despite the financial crisis, despite massive spending, they are having a hard time breaking 50.” But Strimble and McCain-Palin political director Mike DuHaime described a political map that may not be ideal for the GOP either: the battleground states that both said would decide the election - Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Indiana - were all red in 2004. North Carolina last voted for a Democrat in 1976, when Southerner Jimmy Carter was the party’s nominee; Indiana and Virginia’s last Democratic presidential pick was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The latest CNN Polls of polls in these “must-win” states have all found Barack Obama statistically tied or slightly ahead. Strimple said the seemingly defensive position of the campaign in these former Republican presidential strongholds was an illusion; the McCain-Palin team, he said, had convinced Obama to spend money in states where they hadn’t laid out a dime.
"To say we are on defense is not true...We are aggressively using our resources in states where we have to win," said Strimple. “One of the strategic decisions our campaign has made is to let Mr. Obama spend his resources until we got closer to the election,” he added. Earlier Thursday, the McCain-Palin team confirmed that they had pulled campaign resources from Michigan, re-directing them to Pennsylvania and Ohio, and were planning to make a major push in Maine, which can split its 4 electoral votes between the presidential candidates, depending on voting results in the state’s congressional districts. Strimble and DuHaime also included Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Colorado and New Mexico on their list of targets, and said they weren’t writing off Michigan entirely: “If we see a swing back in our favor, we’ll re-engage,” said DuHaime. And some unequivocally good news for the campaign: the Republican National Committee pulled in a record-breaking monthly haul in September, pulling in almost $66 million. “We are very well funded, and we are looking at a very aggressive last 30 days,” Strimple said Thursday. Filed under: Barack Obama John McCain |
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