In late 1944, Allied forces were pressing the borders of Germany on
all sides but had become seriously over-extended. Instead of hunkering
down to defend their borders the German High Command decided on one
last gamble.
They would withdraw some of their best divisions from the Eastern
front, use the last of their reserves, and with these forces launch an
attack through the gap between American forces in France and British
forces in Holland. They would attempt to cut off the British, pin
them to the sea, and destroy them as they almost did in 1940 (Cf.
Dunkirk), hoping meanwhile that the Russians couldn't overwhelm them.
They predicted that such a defeat might knock Britain out of the war
and dramatically change Germany's fortunes.
It was almost certainly a futile hope, and perhaps even a stupid idea.
For if they had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams it likely would
have meant that the Russians would have taken over most of Germany
instead of the British and Americans. And we saw how well that all
worked out for them in East Germany.
(Continue the narrative below)
They did have one thing going for them: the area the attack would
encompass was almost always clouded and fogged over during that time
(mid December), so that the Allies complete command of the skies would
be rendered immaterial.
In any case the attack failed, in large part because the Germans
failed to immediately (or ever) seize Bastogne, the road nexus for
much of the initial assault. When Patton counterattacked, it was all
over. Thus went the Battle of the Bulge, and with it any German hopes
of less than total defeat.
Two weeks before the 2008 election, the McCain campaign has conceded
that it has almost no chance to win Iowa, New Mexico or Colorado.
http://thepage.time.com/...
Instead of attempting to defend Colorado and the other 2004 Bush
states sufficient for victory, they have apparently decided on one
last gamble: Pennsylvania.
(And in an interesting twist, possibly using in lieu of Panzer divisions
Reverend Wright videos!
http://politicalwire.com/... )
The McCain campaign is committed vast amounts of resources to this
state already: last week 20% of their entire advertising budget and
significantly more per electoral vote than any other state, as
documented here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
By winning Pennsylvania and holding on desperately to Ohio, Florida,
North Carolina and Nevada, they hope to squeak by with 273-265
Electoral Vote victory. This is a huge gamble; right now the RCP
average is PA: O +11.7, and McCain's support is barely above 40%,
while Obama's is at 52%. But it's Pennsylvania or bust: Minnesota or
Wisconsin and they still lose, Michigan and they tie.
They do have one thing going for them: there is no early voting in
Pennsylvania. While some battleground states like Colorado are likely
to have more than 50% of their vote already cast by the end of
October, everyone in PA will vote on November 4th. If the McCain
campaign can engineer a November surprise (Reverend Wright's evil
twin?) it might be enough to pull it off, or so they hope.
Unfortunately for McCain, even a victory in Pennsylvania might not be
enough. While his campaign is pouring resources into the Keystone
State, three other states vital to their chance of victory might be in
danger of being overwhelmed: Nevada (O +4.2), Missouri (O +.27) and
North Carolina (O: +2.3, not including today's O: +7 poll that RCP
doesn't count), all of which have been trending Obama. Even Nevada's
five electoral votes is enough to tip the balance back to Obama,
268-270.
Still, just as it was for Germany in December of 1944, it may be their
best, and only, shot.