Here’s the map the McCain campaign is counting on to win:
So how are things going for him in Pennsylvania?
Mr. McCain’s strategists insisted that the state and its 21 electoral votes were within reach and crucial to what they acknowledge is an increasingly narrow path to victory. They say that their own polls show Mr. McCain only seven or eight percentage points behind Mr. Obama. (The state polls that show Mr. Obama with a double-digit lead, all conducted in recent weeks, include surveys by Marist, Quinnipiac, Rasmussen, SurveyUSA and The Allentown Morning Call.)
They’re encouraged by a seven or eight point deficit less than two weeks before the election? Maybe the campaigns know something the rest of us don’t. Yesterday, CNN reported that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is “nervous” about the state and is asking Obama to return with the Clintons.
Better safe than sorry, I guess, but come on: Pennsylvania hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 20 years. There are 1.2 million more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans. Here’s a close-up of Pollster.com’s aggregated trend line:
I suppose it’s possible that every public polling outfit in the country has it wrong and the McCain campaign has it right. Or maybe they’re in the wrong state.
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Update:
Good lord, I hope this is just be the Obama campaign trying to motivate its voters:
An internal poll from Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign in Pennsylvania has him just two points ahead of Sen. John McCain, according to The Hill.
“WILK radio host Steve Corbett said Tuesday he obtained an Obama campaign e-mail about the internal poll showing a tight race.” The Obama campaign “wouldn’t confirm the internal poll numbers, but said that the e-mail was sent without permission.”
Update two:
The “internal poll” is apparently old news:
Apparently this poll was reported a week ago, though it’s relevance is more interesting today considering the McCain campaign’s recent actions.
