Monday, October 29, 2012
Romney and Obama stop campaigning due to Hurricane Sandy
Posted by Mitch Perry on Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Those were the sentiments expressed on Monday morning from the top Obama campaign officials regarding where they stand in the battleground states eight days before Election Day.
"We're winning this race, and I say that not on the basis of some mystical faith in a wave that's going to come, or some hidden vote," senior strategist David Axelrod told reporters on a conference call. "We base it on cold, hard data based on who's voted so far and state-by-state polling."
There are both national and state-by-state polls that show the presidential race as being extremely close, and undoubtedly both the Obama and Romney camps are talking tough eight days out.
Both Axelrod and Obama For America campaign manager Jim Messina were angry with the commentary coming from the pro-Romney forces — Axelrod called it "faux-bullishness," but we can expect it to continue throughout the next week.
Messina said his thoughts and prayers were with everyone in Hurricane Sandy's pathway. The president's Monday morning appearance with President Clinton in Orlando was canceled, and Messina said the president will not campaign tomorrow (he was scheduled to visit Wisconsin). Mitt Romney will also come off the campaign trail at least until Wednesday.
"We'll go day by day," Messina said.
But Messina was as full of bravado as Axelrod, "Our data and facts are on our side vs. spin and wishful thinking on theirs." He added that early voting in several key states like Virginia, Iowa and Nevada will put pressure on Mitt Romney to get a maximum level of support on Election Day and "he won't be able to get there," Messina promised.
He also blasted a new Romney ad that's running in the crucial battleground state of Ohio. The ad claims Obama "took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy, and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China."
"That's flat-out false," Messina charged. "It reeks of desperation because that's what it is."
The Obama forces are energized by the strong support of early voting in places like Florida — though supporters of John Kerry said the same thing back in 2004 (Kerry lost Florida to George W. Bush by five points). A Public Policy Polling survey out yesterday showed Obama up by one point in the Sunshine State.
The Romney camp feels supremely confident, recently announcing it will advertise in Pennsylvania, long considered a safe Democratic state. Vice-President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Pennsylvania, but Axelrod said "we're not going to take anything for granted, we're going to continue to make sure to do what we need to do on the ground."
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