01.20.09
10-16-2008, 04:39 PM
McCain Campaign strategy? (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14645.html)
According to most polls, Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead in Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin, all states that many political strategists and pollsters believe are too far gone at this late date for John McCain to win.
Still, McCain’s campaign soldiers on in those Democratic-leaning states, committing its most precious commodities—time and money— even as he struggles to lock up the red states he likely must sweep to win the presidency.
It’s a head-scratching strategy that is leading even some Republicans to wonder why the McCain campaign hasn’t written off places like Iowa and Pennsylvania and strategically retreated to ensure victory in more favorable red state terrain—such as Virginia and North Carolina—that it absolutely cannot afford to lose.
“It seems to me the world has changed but they are living in an old construct. You pull out of Michigan and you stay in Pennsylvania. You stay in Iowa?” asked Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole.
“Look I’ve been in their position. I know what it’s like when the world comes crashing down around you in a presidential race,” Fabrizio continued. “I used to have a saying in 1996 that is absolutely applicable to these guys in 2008: denial is not a river in Africa."
But, he noted, “On what planet do you not adjust to protect the states that you absolutely need to win to get to 270?”
This doesn't make sense to me but not much of what McCain said last night did either.
According to most polls, Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead in Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin, all states that many political strategists and pollsters believe are too far gone at this late date for John McCain to win.
Still, McCain’s campaign soldiers on in those Democratic-leaning states, committing its most precious commodities—time and money— even as he struggles to lock up the red states he likely must sweep to win the presidency.
It’s a head-scratching strategy that is leading even some Republicans to wonder why the McCain campaign hasn’t written off places like Iowa and Pennsylvania and strategically retreated to ensure victory in more favorable red state terrain—such as Virginia and North Carolina—that it absolutely cannot afford to lose.
“It seems to me the world has changed but they are living in an old construct. You pull out of Michigan and you stay in Pennsylvania. You stay in Iowa?” asked Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole.
“Look I’ve been in their position. I know what it’s like when the world comes crashing down around you in a presidential race,” Fabrizio continued. “I used to have a saying in 1996 that is absolutely applicable to these guys in 2008: denial is not a river in Africa."
But, he noted, “On what planet do you not adjust to protect the states that you absolutely need to win to get to 270?”
This doesn't make sense to me but not much of what McCain said last night did either.