<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The Washington Independent &#187; plouffe</title>
	<atom:link href="http://washingtonindependent.com/tag/plouffe/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://washingtonindependent.com</link>
	<description>National News in Context</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:20:35 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>20-20 Hindsight: Electoral Delusions May Have Sunk McCain</title>
		<link>http://washingtonindependent.com/15400/flashback-in-june-obama-looked-prescient-mccain-oblivious</link>
		<comments>http://washingtonindependent.com/15400/flashback-in-june-obama-looked-prescient-mccain-oblivious#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:47:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aaron Wiener</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elections 2008]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[McCain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[campaign]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[connecticut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[north carolina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plouffe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rick davis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virginia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://washingtonindependent.com/?p=15400</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ben Smith at Politico takes us back to June 2008, when McCain campaign manager Rick Davis laid out an ambitious electoral strategy that included, among other things, a push to take such states as Connecticut.
For comparison, I dug up a presentation (PDF) by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe from the same month.
The result: The Obama [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ben Smith at Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/McCains_June_map.html">takes us back</a><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;,&quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;,Tahoma,Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span>to June 2008, when McCain campaign manager Rick Davis laid out an ambitious electoral strategy that included, among other things, a push to take such states as Connecticut.</p>
<p>For comparison, I dug up a <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/plouffe.pdf">presentation</a> (PDF) by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe from the same month.</p>
<p>The result: The Obama campaign was spot-on in its assessment of its prospects, while the McCain people were way off the mark. Let&#8217;s take a look.<span id="more-15400"></span></p>
<p>First, here&#8217;s Davis&#8217; perceived electoral map, just four months ago:</p>
<p><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/davis.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15407" title="davis" src="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/davis.jpg" alt="" width="425" height="279" /></a></p>
<p>Looking at today&#8217;s RealClearPolitics map (below), we can see that <em>every single</em> toss-up state is now in Sen. Barack Obama&#8217;s column. While all the &#8220;Lean GOP&#8221; states have held, three of the &#8220;Solid GOP&#8221; states &#8212; Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana &#8212; have turned blue:</p>
<p><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/rcp.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15421" title="rcp" src="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/rcp.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="416" /></a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Plouffe was announcing the Obama team&#8217;s plan to turn these red states blue:</p>
<p><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/plouffe.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15424" title="plouffe" src="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/plouffe.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="336" /></a></p>
<p>Lo and behold, every one of these is now in Obama&#8217;s column, mostly by substantial margins.</p>
<p>Another slide in Plouffe&#8217;s presentation indicated the states in which the Obama campaign would be advertising early and extensively:</p>
<p><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/plouffe2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15425" title="plouffe2" src="http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/plouffe2.jpg" alt="" width="499" height="366" /></a></p>
<p>Admittedly, a few of these are still unlikely to go for Obama &#8212; Alaska, for instance, effectively came off the table when Gov. Sarah Palin joined Sen. John McCain&#8217;ticket &#8212; but for the most part, Obama&#8217;s strategy paid off.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s proof:</p>
<p>Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana, which McCain considered in the bag, now lean Obama by 7, 2 and 2 points, respectively, according to RealClearPolitics.</p>
<p>Connecticut, which McCain hoped to nab, is going for Obama by 19 points.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://washingtonindependent.com/15400/flashback-in-june-obama-looked-prescient-mccain-oblivious/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
