Napolitano: Obama Can Win in Arizona

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Of course, she kind of has to say this, but Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is reportedly telling Democrats in Denver that Sen. John McCain should watch his back in Arizona. From The Associated Press:

[Napolitano] told the Colorado delegation to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday that there is evidence McCain is losing support among voters in that state, with up to a third of the voters still undecided. She says those voters will be the deciding factor in this year’s election.

She says Arizona should be included among Western states likely to vote for Obama this year, including Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

Some recent polls have found McCain’s lead in The Grand Canyon State is shrinking — though the results of one survey of Arizona voters from earlier this month, and perhaps the most reliable, indicates McCain still enjoys a comfortable 12-point margin over Sen. Barack Obama among Arizona voters. The McCain campaign fed the rumors that the presumed GOP nominee may be in dire straits in his own backyard when it released a campaign strategy report listing Arizona as a swing state. Last month, The Arizona Republic reported Obama raised significantly more money than McCain from Arizonans.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee even threw Arizona Democrats a bone with some choice seating at the convention, according to Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star:

They’re the 50-yard line seats of the Democratic National Convention, and Arizona’s delegates have got ‘em.

Grand Canyon Democrats have landed in a primo spot at this week’s festivities in Denver — just maybe because they’re from the home state of Barack Obama’s GOP rival, John McCain. Directly behind the Arizona delegation: the Obama family skybox and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden with his wife, Jill.

“You could literally stand up, turn around and shake hands with them,” said Dana Kennedy, a Hillary Rodham Clinton delegate.

However, the only TV ads I’ve seen on the air here, from either candidate, have been on the cable news networks. When I have visited real swing states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado while traveling with the McCain campaign in recent weeks, these ads have been ubiquitous — indicating neither campaign is taking any of these reports too seriously. If Obama carries Arizona, the election will have been a landslide — and I have yet to hear anybody, with the exception of my dyed-in-the-wool Democrat father, predict a landslide in November.

(Hat Tip: PolitickerAZ.com)