For those of you that are worried about recent fluctuations in tracking polls, take heart. Polls don't always tell us the complete story of what's going on out there. What you should be looking at is how the battle is being fought. What may be different. Which candidate is taking the battle to the other. Who is playing defense? And most importantly, who is on the offensive?
Today we have this story which is quite meaningful--"Obama makes bid in 7 longtime Republican states." http://rawstory.com/...
Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.
If nothing else this offensive onslaught by the Obama camp in these states will make McCain spend much needed resources to just to hold on to their own territory, while a victory or 2 by Obama in any of them could easily spell doom for McCain. Moreover just the fact that these states may be up for grab should give everyone an indication of the state of this race. No matter what the MSM or the tracking polls would have us believe, this race is very much being controlled by the democrats. you don't venture out into the territory of your enemy unless you are very confident of your position, and right now that position looks like a very good one for the democrats.
The republicans may bluster about competing in blue states, but all it is, is bluster. They are busy playing defense. They don't have the enthusiasm or the resources to increase their reach in this election.
When Obama is ready to take them on in places like Georgia, Montana and Indiana, you have to know the republicans are scared out of their boots. In recent elections, these are states that the republicans were able to count on as easily as they could breath.
For decades, these states have almost exclusively voted for Republican presidential candidates and have rarely seen any campaign action. Now, thanks in part to demographic and political shifts, they are emerging as new battlegrounds.
Virginia is considered the most vulnerable of the 7, but in my view Montana, and Indiana are right up there as well. Virginia has been trending democrat in recent years, and Obama is very popular there. The black popuation can also be counted on to come out in numbers never before seen, and this is one major reason why all likely voter models can more than likely be thrown out the window.
Furthermore
Democrats say the growing numbers of young left-leaning professionals in the north and the state's large percentage of blacks - one in five - as well as untapped pools of potential voters make Virginia a ripe target for them. More than 4 million people are eligible to vote, but roughly a third are not registered, including a half-million blacks and several hundred thousand people age 18-24.
Montana is another red state where Obama is very popular, and when you add that to the fact that wherever you look in Montana nowadays, you see blue, it looks very good for the Obama team there.
The same is true for Indiana which has been hard hit economically and borders Obama's home state.
And when you add to this the fact that any red state with large numbers of blacks could easily tip to Obama depending on turnout, the situation looks verry bleak for McCain and the republicans this time around.
So if anyone thinks that this election is going to resemble the last two, they are going to find themselves completely mistaken. This election is an entire new ball game. and in the end, we are going to see an entire new direction in this nation, and it may never be the same again after it.