The American Spectator

AmSpecBlog

Democratic panic?

By Robert Stacy McCain on 6.16.08 @ 12:46PM

Team Obama seems to be whistling past the graveyard:

Barack Obama's campaign envisions a path to the presidency that could include Virginia, Georgia and several Rocky Mountain states, but not necessarily the pair of battlegrounds that decided the last two elections -- Florida and Ohio.
In a private pitch late last week to donors and former supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe outlined several alternatives to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of recent elections.

Ri-iiight. Democrats can be forgiven for thinking that sounds like a frank admission that Plouffe & Co have taken a look at the polls in Florida and realized they're facing big trouble from the voters disenfranchised by the DNC. Also, the latest polls show that Obama got a smaller-than-expected "bounce" from clinching against Hillary.

Jennifer Rubin of Commentary assesses the situation:

Barack Obama's campaign manager is throwing out the possibility that Obama might not win Ohio, Florida or Pennsylvania, but could still win in November. All, I can say is, had they made that argument during the primary Hillary Clinton's advisors would have had a field day with the superdelegates. Try it at home using this handy map. It is not impossible. But it is really, really hard for Obama to get to 270 in a credible way without these states.

Have the "Masters of Disasters" struck again? Remembering how the Clinton campaign used Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" in 1992, allow me to suggest as a theme song for Team Obama, "Over My Head":

It may not feel so nice on Nov. 4.

topics:
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton