Jonathan Martin reports on GOP hopes that more donors would step up to finance third-party anti-Obama ads in the final weeks, but apparently these conservative donors aren't going to "throw good money after bad."
Also, early voting news and a great reaction from a group of undecided voters in Florida.
And, news and reaction regarding McCain's Pennsylvania strategy.
Apparently McCain is not going to get the same kind of help from outside groups Bush received in 2004, as Politico reports:
For the GOP, the cavalry apparently isn’t coming. Republicans attuned to conservative third-party efforts say that with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the prospects for any 11th-hour, anti-Obama ad campaign are highly unlikely.
Conservative donors to third-party groups apparently were not impressed with McCain's debate performances:
Two Republican sources involved in third-party groups said the Arizona senator’s second debate performance in early October, a pivotal moment in the campaign when he and running mate Sarah Palin had begun to ratchet up their attacks, was deflating to some donors.
These sources said that after McCain didn’t use the Nashville debate to aggressively go after Obama, one prominent conservative financier remarked: “I’m not going to bother investing anymore.”
::::::
There are great early voting numbers out of several battleground states today, reported by USA Today. In Florida:
Monday's opening day produced nearly a 2-to-1 advantage for Democrats among 150,000 voters, says McDonald at George Mason University.
In Ohio:
In Hamilton County, where Bush won 53% in 2004, three in five early voters are affiliated with Democrats.
In Georgia:
More than 750,000 people have voted, nearly 25% of the 2004 total. Voters don't register by party, but 36% of early voters are black — up from 22% in 2004.
And yet, the Republican quoted in the article sarcastically says that Democrats are wasting their time hyping early voting since "they only get to vote once." Oh, really? Just like Republicans casually dismissed Obama's 50-state strategy that is now giving them heartburn in places like North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Missouri, Colorado and Nevada?
::::::
Salon.com has a list of specific counties and cities where the GOP may use voter suppression tactics in the battleground states.
::::::
The St. Petersburg Times (FL) has been following a small group of undecided voters for two months and has found that most have made up their minds:
Two months ago, the undecided voters convened for a focus group at the St. Petersburg Times were decidedly antagonistic toward Barack Obama and in several cases leaning toward McCain. Today, just one of the 11 voters is backing McCain, nine expect to vote for Obama, and one remains torn.
So what has pushed these voters - who were largely antagonistic towards Obama - to give him their vote?
Widespread antagonism toward Obama in mid August gave way in September to overwhelming horror over McCain picking Palin as his vice presidential nominee. At the last session last week, most were scoffing at McCain's constant talk of Joe the Plumber, still calling Palin unqualified, divisive and grating, and acknowledging that Obama has grown on them.
::::::
The New York Times looks at McCain's Pennsylvania strategy. What's striking is that stealing Pennsylvania from the Democratic column is one of the only viable shots they have left in the electoral college:
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.)
and:
Another reason for Mr. McCain’s focus on Pennsylvania may be the shrinking electoral map, as Mr. Obama’s dominance leaves Mr. McCain with fewer and fewer competitive states to campaign in, and the need to avoid another embarrassing concession like Michigan, which the campaign abandoned early this month.
When Pennsylvania is a "crucial" state for a Republican, you know things aren't going well. The Times also reports that McCain is reducing advertising money in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. It is rumored that this money will be dumped into Pennsylvania.
The Los Angeles Times reports that less than 500 people showed up for McCain rally in blue-collar Bensalem yesterday. The headline from the New York Daily News is: Without Pennsylvania, McCain's toast, experts say. So what do you think - does McCain really have a shot in Pennsylvania?
::::::
Marc Ambinder mentions that the Republicans he has heard from aren't very happy that the RNC spent $150,000 to outfit Palin in the middle of an economic crisis:
Republicans, RNC donors and at least one RNC staff member have e-mailed me tonight to share their utter (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures.
A McCain spokesperson said "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign." I believe that about as much as I believe that Palin said "thanks but no thanks" on the bridge to nowhere!
::::::
The Wall Street Journal reports that Equality for All's internal polling is showing Proposition 8 leading by four points:
Pollsters say that fueling the rise in support for Proposition 8 is an advertising blitz heavily bankrolled by the Mormon Church, which suggests, among other things, that if Proposition 8 doesn't pass then schoolchildren will be indoctrinated about gay marriage.
I won't even unload all the disgust I felt after reading this article, but I will donate again to Equality for All.
::::::
Madison Powers has a great column at CQPolitics.com illustrating why McCain's socialism charge is such a big crock of shit:
Every time tax policy is tailored to give incentives to expand home ownership, encourage employer-sponsored health plans, or reduce capital gains taxes to stimulate job creation, or when government adopts plans build highways or bridges to nowhere, fund medical research, regulate or not regulate derivatives and credit swaps, it engages in inherently — often deliberate — acts of redistribution.
The only complaint, it seems, comes when the redistributive effect is downward. It’s okay to feed the birds by feeding the horses, but when someone suggests that the birds might do better off if they did not have to depend on the horses, it’s socialism or some sort of un-American activity.
::::::
I guess this local reporter from Nevada didn't get the memo that you aren't supposed to ask follow-up questions of Governor Palin. The headline? Palin advocates for children with autism, unable to give plan specifics:
Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says autism is an issue "near and dear" to her heart and she can't wait to get to work helping more than 5,000 Nevada families affected by it. However, when pressed, she was unable to provide details on a plan to do that.
::::::
And something pleasant to kick off your morning... I always enjoy looking at Obama's photo galleries and there were some particularly moving ones from Florida yesterday. (All photos by David Katz)
Many more from Florida here.
::::::
So what's your take on McCain's whole Pennsylvania strategy? I think it's nuts, but I guess those are his options. Supposedly he is going back to Iowa too. Anything else going on this morning?