Posted on 10/21/2008 8:59:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The general election is two weeks from Tuesday and Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama is retaining his edge in the polls. Republican Sen. John McCain is hoping to turn things around in these final days.
Obama is focused on winning over voters in traditionally red states, while McCain's strategy includes getting undecided voters in key states to break his way.
Two weeks to go and Obama is on a red state campaign tour spending loads of time and money in traditionally Republican leaning states like Florida, where polls now put him and McCain in a dead heat.
"I know these are difficult times. But I believe that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis, because I believe in this country," Obama said.
Democratic pollster Harrison Hickman said the key for Obama is to continue pushing his economic message and linking McCain to President George W. Bush.
"There are a lot of things that could happen to make the election much closer than it is, it probably would take something dramatic to change the outcome of the election," Democratic Pollster Harrison Hickman said.
McCain spent the day in Pennsylvania, and heads to New Hampshire on Wednesday -- both states are strongly leading toward Obama.
"I have a plan to protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up bad mortgages," McCain said.
Republican strategist David Winston said where McCain campaigns is not as critical as what he says. He said the key for McCain is appealing to broad swaths of target groups such as middle income Americans.
"McCain first has to assert why he's better for the economy. What is it that he's going to do? What will a McCain economy will look like? Then he can contrast that to an Obama economy in terms of where he sees some potential risk," Winston said.
Analysts said both candidates need to aim for pulling independent and undecided voters their way.
And strategists said both candidates need to avoid major mistakes and offhand comments that can be used against them by the other side.
Obama has canceled campaign events later in the week so he can visit his ill grandmother.
After a rally in Indianapolis Thursday morning, Obama plans to fly to Hawaii to visit his 85-year-old grandmother Madelyn Dunham. She recently fell and broke her hip and is now described as gravely ill. Obama's wife will continue campaigning and he is expected to be back on the trail Saturday.
An AP-Knowledge Networks poll out Tuesday shows 60 percent of undecided voters said they're not persuaded by negative campaign ads. More than half believe the presidential candidates' ads have not been fair.
They are. In OH, in PA, in NH, in COLO, in MO, in NC, in VA, in NV. He will win all of them. I think he even has a shot at WI.
Hope so. but what do you base this on?
What I hear from friends who know people in the field, and know just how aggressive the GOPTV effort is in certain areas, and know some of McCain’s internal polling. Oh, I forgot FL. Color it red.
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