Arizona is in play for Barack Obama as shown by many of the recent polls. Team McCain does not know how to handle this. It's pathetic that McCain will be having a campaign rally in Arizona, in the final hours of his campaign:
McCain is scheduled to appear at the Yavapai County Courthouse at 11 p.m. on Monday, along with his wife Cindy, for a "Road to Victory" rally.
I have to say that at that late hour, many of McCain's core base of supporters in Arizona will be asleep by then.
However, what's more pathetic is the "rally" that was held for McCain today by his local surrogates in Phoenix:
Between 200 and 300 supporters of Republican presidential nominee John McCain turned out to Desert Storm Park in Phoenix on Saturday, where U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Phoenix) and U.S. Reps. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) and Jeff Flake (R-Mesa) addressed the crowd, but representation was highest for one group of non-voters: foreign journalists.
OMG. How pathetic is it that your "rally" is predominantly filled by journalists here in Arizona to await election night results. You are a sad, sad, pathetic man, McCain.
But wait, it gets better. Check out this logic by Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl about McCain's path to victory:
At a Phoenix rally for Republican presidential nominee John McCain Saturday, McCain's fellow U.S. senator from Arizona Jon Kyl (R-Phoenix) described the path to a McCain victory in Tuesday's presidential election, and discussed the importance of a decisive victory in Arizona.
"In the national polls, John McCain is four points behind," Kyl told reporters at Desert Storm Park before Saturday's rally. "If he can chip away at that four point gap - one point Saturday, one point Sunday, one point Monday, one point Tuesday, he can win."
Get that folks? Kyl says the polls are tightening in favor of McCain. But wait, those Arizona polls are NOT tightening according to Kyl:
Kyl disputed the accuracy of recent polls on the Arizona race, including one from Arizona State University that shows a two-point race between McCain and Sen. Barack Obama in the state.
"The polls aren't tightening as much as you've been led to believe," said Kyl, who claimed that because the ASU poll surveyed registered but not necessarily likely voters, its results were disputable.
Pathetic. Only McCain's non-public "internal" polls are showing supposedy tightening--you know all those public polls are wrong. And let's not forget that this is the same Senator Kyl, who threw McCain under the bus a few days ago claiming he was unlikely to win the election. Penance must suck for you, Senator Kyl--obviously, you were coerced to come out for this pathetic "rally."
But just when it couldn't get more pathetic, we have Republican John Shadegg making comments at this "rally." Shadegg is in the fight of his life to save his congressional seat (AZ-3) from Democratic candidate Bob Lord. What does he say to motivate his supporters?
"You've seen me pummeled on the air," said Shadegg before the crowd of around 200 in Desert Storm Park. He told them he's been hit by the Lord campaign on television, radio and in mail pieces.
"Let me step aside from the microphone for a second..." said Shadegg, who then raised up his arms triumphantly and declared, "I'm still alive!" and evoking a cheer.
Yup, I'm glad those 100 or so, non-press, supporters are glad to hear it. I'm so looking forward to the final nail in the coffin for McCain and Shadegg to be coming from Arizona voters.