More Bad News for McCain in Arizona
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 9:47 am
Yet another new poll shows the race in Sen. John McCain’s home state of Arizona tightening — and this time, it’s within the margin of error.
Following two other polls released this week that showed McCain’s lead over Sen. Barack Obama shrinking drastically, a survey conducted by Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and KAET-TV finds Obama trails McCain by just two percentage points, 44 percent to McCain’s 46 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
The Arizona Republic reports that the McCain campaign remains confident it will win the state and chalks up the poll results to Obama’s efforts to “buy the election.”
“John McCain has never lost an election in Arizona, and this one will be no different, regardless of Obama’s attempt to buy the election with millions of dollars in advertising,” spokesman Jeff Sadosky said in an e-mailed statement.
While Obama is greatly outspending McCain on advertising nationally, this fails to explain the trend in Arizona, as neither campaign appears to be targeting much, if any, advertising at The Grand Canyon State.
As I have noted before, I live in the Phoenix area, and I have yet to see a single advertisement from either campaign on TV, with the exception of those aired nationally on the cable news networks. I have also not received any mailings or robo-calls from the presidential campaigns.
If Obama is making inroads in Arizona, he is doing it without advertising or visiting the state — which may say quite a bit about the trajectory of this race.
8 Comments
Comment posted October 29, 2008 @ 7:08 am
Your use of “Phoenix-area” is not a compound modifier, so it doesn't require a hyphen. Compare to: “Phoenix-area man has noted before that he lives in the Phoenix area”. If you already know this, I apologize for being picky.
Comment posted October 29, 2008 @ 7:34 am
You're right. This post has been updated. Gotta love English majors.
Comment posted October 29, 2008 @ 8:24 am
Maybe these people should stop trying to surpress the vote in this election. If they truly believed in a free and fair election, they wouldn't care that people voted. They really don't want people to vote and are making up reasons that would scare young voters from voting. Don't listen to the fear mongers! Vote! If you are eligible, it is your constitutional right!
Comment posted October 29, 2008 @ 11:41 pm
This is all getting ridiculous, but the numbers are the numbers. Who knows, they might even be right:
http://www.236.com/news/2008/10/29/hey_heres_a_…
Comment posted October 29, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
This is all getting ridiculous, but the numbers are the numbers. Who knows, they might even be right:
http://www.236.com/news/2008/10/29/hey_heres_a_…
Comment posted October 30, 2008 @ 11:28 am
I hope they the Mavericks can do it ! Or we can see high taxes for the next four years. If Mr. ? wins. Maybe Palin will be around to pick up the beaten taxed-out middle class in 2012. Show your vote and your smarts at PitbullPalin.org
Comment posted October 30, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
I have read many blogs with regard to Obama dropping by AZ on his southwest route planned for the upcoming days. I would be thrilled if he would speak either here in Tucson or in PHX , but NOT at the risk of his losing the key states with more electoral votes. The most important thing is for him to WIN. That having been said, I trust his amazing campaign team to make the call as to whether a slight detour would be worth his time. I do not believe it would be rubbing McCain's face in it, since McCain has shown so little commitment to this state even BEFORE this election. I also believe that we Arizonans COUNT in terms of being U.S. citizens who have a vested interest in determining who will be our next president.
On the strategy side, I think the best point made was in the blog I read pointing out that this is SNOWBIRD SEASON in AZ right now – a time when we have several seasonal residents from back east with ties to those states – AND the fact that so many AZ permanent residents also have family and friends back east . This makes a visit worth considering. I also believe that the media showing a huge rally in McCain's home state could make a powerful impact throughout the country. Also, EVERYBODY knows AZ has a ton of retirees here – especially Florida voters. If he could make a significant “dent” here, I'm sure those older voters would feel reassured. We also have a HUGE Hispanic population.
As a Tucson, AZ resident (age 45) of over 30 years, it would be a dream come true to see this mostly white, older Republican home state of mine go blue at last. We are in serious trouble here, and have been for some time. I HAVE to wonder why voters aren't being informed about where AZ ranks in terms of education, among other things. We are ranked at the bottom – poor funding. I HAVE to wonder why NOBODY ever even looks at what McCain has ever done for this state (which is nil), HIS associations, or even the fact that he barely ever even lives here in AZ with his wife. Based on his record, I predict (among other things) that if he wins the presidency, he will bury himself in the White House power and will completely forget about the majority of American people.
Final thoughts: A military hero doesn't necessarily make a Great President, and if he cannot even run a campaign with any kind of competence and honor, how on earth can he run this very complex country?
Comment posted October 31, 2008 @ 5:17 am
I have read many blogs with regard to Obama dropping by AZ on his southwest route planned for the upcoming days. I would be thrilled if he would speak either here in Tucson or in PHX , but NOT at the risk of his losing the key states with more electoral votes. The most important thing is for him to WIN. That having been said, I trust his amazing campaign team to make the call as to whether a slight detour would be worth his time. I do not believe it would be rubbing McCain's face in it, since McCain has shown so little commitment to this state even BEFORE this election. I also believe that we Arizonans COUNT in terms of being U.S. citizens who have a vested interest in determining who will be our next president.
On the strategy side, I think the best point made was in the blog I read pointing out that this is SNOWBIRD SEASON in AZ right now – a time when we have several seasonal residents from back east with ties to those states – AND the fact that so many AZ permanent residents also have family and friends back east . This makes a visit worth considering. I also believe that the media showing a huge rally in McCain's home state could make a powerful impact throughout the country. Also, EVERYBODY knows AZ has a ton of retirees here – especially Florida voters. If he could make a significant “dent” here, I'm sure those older voters would feel reassured. We also have a HUGE Hispanic population.
As a Tucson, AZ resident (age 45) of over 30 years, it would be a dream come true to see this mostly white, older Republican home state of mine go blue at last. We are in serious trouble here, and have been for some time. I HAVE to wonder why voters aren't being informed about where AZ ranks in terms of education, among other things. We are ranked at the bottom – poor funding. I HAVE to wonder why NOBODY ever even looks at what McCain has ever done for this state (which is nil), HIS associations, or even the fact that he barely ever even lives here in AZ with his wife. Based on his record, I predict (among other things) that if he wins the presidency, he will bury himself in the White House power and will completely forget about the majority of American people.
Final thoughts: A military hero doesn't necessarily make a Great President, and if he cannot even run a campaign with any kind of competence and honor, how on earth can he run this very complex country?
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