MyDD :: On Defense

On Defense

by Todd Beeton, Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:08:35 PM EST

On Thursday, Chris Cilizza reported on a McCain campaign electoral strategy call during which senior McCain advisor Greg Strimple said the following:

"To say we are on defense is not true," insisted Strimple. "We are aggressively using our resources in states where we have to win."

As evidence of this they unveiled their plan to compete for Maine's second congressional seat and revealed that their strategy includes, and indeed depends, on competing on turf that John Kerry won in 2004. Add to that Palin's rally in the bluest county of one of the bluest states yesterday, and you get a picture of a campaign decidedly on offense. But as with so much else about the McCain campaign, that appearance is merely a facade.

Methinks, Mr. Strimple, thou doth protest too much.

Take for example where Sarah Palin is as we speak:

In another sign that Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District is in play in the race for the White House, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will speak at a public rally tonight in Omaha.

The campaign stop will be at the Civic Auditorium. Doors open at 4 p.m. Palin is expected to take the stage sometime after 6:30 p.m.

Sen. John McCain's running mate will stop in Omaha en route to an event in Florida, said Wendy Riemann, a McCain campaign spokeswoman.

This stop just 2 days after the Obama campaign confirmed it had opened its second field office in Omaha, a sign that he is actively trying to turn that second cd blue.

Contrast where Palin is today with where Obama was today: Asheville, NC. Which campaign is on offense and which is on defense again?

As even Karl Rove conceded on Fox News Sunday today:

Obama has forced this more onto the Republican turf and off the Democratic turf and that's where you want to be at this point.

Nate Silver elaborated on the significance of Palin's appearance in Omaha:

Berge told us that we'd know if the Nebraska 2d congressional district internals had the McCain camp worried if we started seeing Republican surrogates in the area. With every day's time so precious for each candidate -- an issue of resource allocation -- campaigns have to prioritize where the smartest expenditure of time will be. The nominee or VP nominee going to an area is a big deal. [...]

"Oh c'mon, do we have to?" aside, if the McCain campaign is defending Omaha rather than spending time in Michigan, there is no bluffing going on -- McCain is holding on for dear life at this stage.

Tags: john mccain, sarah palin, barack obama, defense, electoral map, nebraska (all tags)

Permalink :: 12 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: On Defense (2.00 / 1)

they're each going after the maine and nebraska districts because they understand the possibility of the race ending in a tie. mccain has a slight advantage due to nebraska 02 being R+9 and maine being D+3, but obama has the wind at his back. however, i think mccain has ulterior motives for sending staff to maine's second district: he hates his staff. after living in that district for a year i know that if mccain is really trying to send people there it's simply because they've wronged him somehow (or he thinks they've wronged him).

Being Normal is for the Mediocre.

by Doug Tuttle on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:16:53 PM EST

Is it really just +3 (none / 0)

in that Maine CD? From what poll are you getting this info?

by Blazers Edge on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:25:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: On Defense (none / 0)

cook political report.

http://www.cookpolitical.com/races/house /chart.php

Being Normal is for the Mediocre.

by Doug Tuttle on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:28:02 PM EST

We all need to keep working HARD (none / 0)

but we need to do it with the mindset that we are winning. Now is the time for confidence.

Oh Mammy Dear, we're all mad over here livin' in America

by JDF on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:32:29 PM EST

Re: On Defense (none / 0)

I believe it was Sean Quinn who made the post regarding Nebraska's 2nd district on 538.

by Hammy on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 08:49:00 PM EST

Re: On Defense (none / 0)

That Governor Palin, the one live round left in the McCain campaign's armoury, is headed to Omaha and thence Florida, rather than Ohio or Pennsylvania, pretty much says it all. The ground game for Republicans is not a bright spot either, they are relying on Palin's controversies to attract attention at a national level, basically attempting to leverage the very national media they have spent the last few weeks antagonising, to get their message to the American public.

Given that Palin's polarising personality and positions are best suited to energising the 'base' rather than swaying undecideds I'm guessing the McCain campaign is out of ideas, short of funds and rapidly losing enthusiasm. At this point, who could blame them?

by Shaun Appleby on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 09:04:09 PM EST

Palin's rally in blue or red county? (none / 0)

"Add to that Palin's rally in the bluest county of one of the bluest states yesterday"

bluest or reddest?

by chiefscribe on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 09:10:10 PM EST

Re: On Defense (none / 0)

I still don't know what the heck she was doing outside of Los Angeles yesterday.

That was a total waste of time and money.

I keep thinking there must be something going on that I'm not seeing, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it would be.

by Bush Bites on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 10:10:29 PM EST

Palin claims that Nebraska stopover (none / 0)

was her call:

"The pundits today on TV--one of them was saying, check out the vice president's schedule, check out where she's going -- she's going to Nebraska. But the pundit was saying the only reason she'd be going there is `cause they're scared, so they gotta go there and shore up votes. And I so wanted to reach into that TV and say no, I'm going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/05/ politics/fromtheroad/entry4502743.shtml

by Blazers Edge on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 10:27:05 PM EST

Re: Palin claims that Nebraska stopover (none / 0)

"And I so wanted to reach into that TV and say no, I'm going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska."

You...go girl...?

When you start out making the "slippery slope" argument, where do you draw the line?

by Jess81 on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 05:42:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Come noon tomorrow there won't be (none / 0)

much doubt who's on defense. Holy Toledo! Barack just sand bagged McSame. He stepped in it when he decided to pull out that tired on Ayers crap.

Check it out:
http://keatingeconomics.com/

Government derives its power from those that it governs.

by lockewasright on Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 11:30:29 PM EST