Obama vs. McCain
Posted: Monday, May 12, 2008 9:11 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
2008, McCain, Obama
Newsweek previews a general between Obama and McCain. "A campaign insider who declined to be identified for the same reason says McCain aides are studying a private, 52-page dossier, compiled for the aborted 2004 campaign of Illinois Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan (slated to be Obama's opponent until disclosure of some embarrassing records related to his divorce forced him to drop out). The dossier, a copy of which was obtained by NEWSWEEK, brands Obama as ‘in favor of coddling sex abusers’ and ‘shamefully soft on crime and drugs.’ It hits, for instance, Obama's vote in 2001 against a GOP-sponsored measure to toughen penalties against ‘gangbangers,’ pushed after a particularly brutal gang killing in Chicago. Charlie Black, McCain's top strategist, tells NEWSWEEK he had not personally reviewed the Ryan dossier, but saw no problem with using Obama's votes on justice issues in the Illinois Legislature. ‘What's wrong with that?’ he says. (An Obama spokesman says the criticism in the dossier was ‘long ago debunked,’ and that the candidate ‘is supported today by law-enforcement officials across Illinois and the nation.’)”
Setting some conventional wisdom, the New York Times identified its battleground map in an Obama-McCain match-up. What's interesting are the states that ARE included and NOT included. Some semi-surprising inclusions: Colorado, Virginia, Washington and Oregon. Of course, the Obama campaign has been very insistent on Colorado and Virginia. And the McCain campaign has been similarly adamant about their chances in the Northwest. The respective other sides think each side is over-reaching.
The most surprising exclusion: Missouri. Considering that Obama's a neighbor, one would assume his campaign will treat the state as a battleground, which brings us to our battleground dilemma and it involves Missouri. If you think a candidate can get, say, 47% in a state, but that's the ceiling, is it a swing state? Missouri qualifies under those circumstances (so does North Carolina, actually); possibly New Jersey on the GOP side.
So this is where the map will get complicated over the next few months. Obama's campaign will attempt to put some 30-35 states in play, including Montana, Kansas, North Dakota, Indiana and even a district or two in Nebraska (which awards its Electoral Votes via Cong. District.)
The Boston Globe: “Obama has begun ignoring Hillary Clinton on the stump, made plans to visit general-election battlegrounds, and launched a 50-state voter registration program to build his base for November. John McCain has shelved his blueprint for running a general election campaign against Clinton, turned his fire squarely on Obama, and begun coordinating with the Republican Party about how to beat the Illinois senator in the fall.”
The Los Angeles Times takes a look at some challenges facing Obama in the general. “‘I am sure there are people in Missouri that won't vote for Barack Obama because he's black, but there are not that many of them,’ said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a swing-state leader who endorsed Obama early. ‘I don't think that's going be a deal breaker.’ Instead, she said, Obama's most important test should he lock up the nomination will come from Republican efforts to paint him as an elitist, a social and cultural liberal outside the mainstream of American life. ‘The key is going to be whether Barack can avoid getting on defense on social 'wedge' issues and can stay on the offense on economic issues," McCaskill said."
One of the eyebrow raising moments from the weekend was the first mention, in some time, of the Keating Five scandal from a Dem surrogate. At an Obama rally featuring the candidate, a surrogate brought up the scandal, sparking the debate about whether the nearly 20-year-old scandal was still fair game.
The New York Post does a tale of the tape between “New Age Diplomacy” Obama and “Cold War” McCain. It exhibits one thing very clearly, that in the general election there will be clear policy differences. (Accompanying story.)
