Close Race In Colorado?--Barack Obama To Return To Battleground State
On Saturday in Pueblo.
Perhaps the race is closer than the polls, the MSM, and Obama's campaign would like to admit.
Labels: barack obama, colorado, democrats
Covering Denver and the Rocky Mountains--History, Politics, and Culture--political propaganda for the Right!
On Saturday in Pueblo.
Labels: barack obama, colorado, democrats
Scroll down for SP's 2008 Colorado sample ballot guide, courtesy of Julian Dunraven.
Labels: 2008 election, Amendment 46, amendment 49, amendments, colorado ballot, colorado ballot initiatives, referenda
Labels: 2008 election, barack obama, foreign policy, john mccain, military
Our momentum going into the last week of the campaign continues to be strong. But we need your help to beat Boulder Liberal Mark Udall! Coloradans across the state need to hear Bob's message of lower taxes, energy independence and strong families. Here are a few ways you can help.
Wednesday night is Schaffer for Senate Night at the Colorado Victory offices across Colorado. Please consider giving a few hours of your time to help ensure victory for Bob on Election Day. For information on your local Victory office and to schedule your volunteer opportunity, please call Catherine Schlueter at 720-377-1600.
This Thursday, October 30th will be the final television studio debate between Bob Schaffer and Boulder Liberal Mark Udall at the CBS4 studio in Denver. We are holding a rally to show our support for Bob before the debate begins.
Bring your friends and your family to support Bob in his final debate! The rally begins at 4:30 p.m. at the CBS4 Studios on 1044 Lincoln Street in Denver. A strong presence of Schaffer supporters will show Boulder Liberal Udall that we can win on November 4th.
For those who want to tune in for the last Senate debate, it will be airing live on Thursday, October 30th on Ch. 4, KCNC, CBS from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. and will be replayed later the same evening on Ch. 12, KBDI, PBS from 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.
After the debate rally there will also be Republican Get-Out-The-Vote victory rallies in Denver and across the state. Come show your support for Bob by attending the Denver rally!
Denver Rally
7:00 p.m.
Denver Marriott South
10345 Park Meadows Dr.
Littleton, CO
For more information on the Denver rally or to find out about other rallies across Colorado on Thursday, please call 720-377-1600 or email teamschaffer@bobschafferforsenate.com. We hope to see you at one of the rallies as we make our final push before Election Day!
Remember early voting has already begun or you can vote at your polling place on Tuesday, November 4th. Thank you for your support of Bob Schaffer for a better Colorado!
Sincerely,
Dick Wadhams
Campaign Manager
Bob Schaffer for U.S. Senate
Labels: bob schaffer, mark udall
By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.
Labels: 2008 election, barack obama, john mccain
Questions about the 2008 ballot? SP's ballot guide will take you through the state-level amendments and referenda, and Peoples Press Collective has assembled one as well. For thorough backgrounding and roundup of more links and other guides, Ben DeGrow has the most comprehensive roundup.
Labels: 2008 election, amendments, colorado ballot initiatives, referenda
Young Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians (what, no monolithic vast right-wing conspiracy?) aren't prepared to concede the youth vote to Democrats, Obama, or socialism:
Wesley Dickinson, a 30-year-old Denver engineer, thinks the economy is forcing people near his age to confront politics more so than at any time since the 1970s economic downturn created a generation of Reagan Republicans. Since then, people have been able to live relatively comfortably and didn't care so much about what the government did; that no longer is true, he said.Activists from the center-right who can put to rest the image of the "good ol' boys" club of plder, blind GOP voters, with variations in ideology, diversity of backgrounds (the only true diversity), and a desire to foster advocacy of political positions with a decidedly non-progressive/liberal/socialist bent.
"They haven't had to worry about the economy like our parents did," said Dickinson, a limited-government supporter who has had a keen interest in such things for many years. "The economy's been booming in general steady growth. And now we're getting into the first election times where people are scared."
. . .
Few young people read a printed paper, and many gathered at both Republican and Democratic young-voter gatherings in recent weeks said they don't own a television. They get their information from Web sites and even plan their social calendars through online networking sites such as Facebook.
And it is precisely because younger people can do almost anything in front of a computer monitor - organize a campaign event, donate money, air their opinions on a blog - that they are newly active, Justin Longo said. In the days of door-knocking and phone-calling drives 20 years ago, it was hard to hold down a full-time job and be an activist. Now, people of any income level and any work schedule can do so at any time.
"I'd like to think that without the Internet we would be so active. But I doubt it, because the costs of activism are so low this way," said Longo, 26, who is a "Web monkey" with the conservative Independence Institute in Golden. "With only a few key strokes, you put yourself in the role of an activist."
Internet users can find meetings or activities very specific to their peer and interest groups. This is how the postcard parties are organized. It's how 26-year-old Amanda Teresi founded Liberty on the Rocks, a group of free- market backers that gathers at bars twice a month in the Denver area to discuss politics or watch the presidential debate, as members did last week.
Labels: conservatives, libertarians, peoples press collective, republicans
Drunkablog waded in to the teeming masses clamoring for the Obamessiah, and has an extensive photo roundup (and snark, of course). El Marco was there as well.
You mark my words, political historians will refer to the period we are living in now as "before Obama" and the period going forward as "after Obama."Praise Obama!
. . . Americans are not always what they appear to be. They may say one thing and think another, hold deep-seated prejudices they themselves don't quite understand — or they could surprise themselves and rise above race entirely.Undecideds don't fare much better:
Those who study the brain say part of the problem may lie there, deep in the cerebral cortex, in a place called the amygdala.And I thought the unease was just a product of Obama's socialist policies.
"What's happening right now is that a lot of people have been sitting on the fence and feeling some kind of gut-level unease with Obama," said Drew Westen, a psychologist and author of "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation."
Brain scans show activity in the amygdala correlates with such emotions as anxiety and fear.
"Studies have shown that a majority of white people, including those who are consciously opposed to discrimination, show activation of the amygdala when presented with a subliminal image of a black man," Westen said.
The gut-level unease, he said, could manifest itself with statements about Obama like "I'm not sure I can trust him" or "Maybe he doesn't love our country."
Over in Denver's northeast neighborhood, Cynthia Gallegos spent a lot of time registering voters and noticed the reactions.
"I never had a person of color say they would not vote for an individual because of his color," she said. "There was more caution from whites, saying that this political process doesn't work. Middle-aged and older white men who'd come to the door were just closed off to politics and political conversation."
Labels: barack obama, civic center park
**Update 2--100,000 packed Civic Center, according to police
Labels: barack obama, hillary clinton
By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.
Click here for SP's 2008 Colorado sample ballot guide, courtesy of Julian Dunraven.
Labels: Amendment 46, amendment 49, Civil Rights Initiative, colorado ballot initiatives
By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.
Even if Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii, he lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother re-married and moved to Indonesia with her Indonesian husband. In or about 1966, when Obama was approximately five (5) years old, his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, married Lolo Soetoro, a citizen of Indonesia, whom she had met at the Hawaii University, and moved to Indonesia with Obama. Obama lost his U.S. citizenship, when his mother married Lolo Soetoro, and took up residency in Indonesia. Loss of citizenship, in these circumstances, under U.S. law (as in effect in 1967) required that foreign citizenship be achieved through “application.” Such type of naturalization occurred, for example, when a person acquired a foreign nationality by marriage to a national of that country. Nationality Act of 1940, Section 317(b). A minor child follows the naturalization and citizenship status of their custodial parent. A further issue is presented that Obama’s Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, either signed an acknowledgement acknowledging Obama as his son or Lolo Soetoro adopted Obama, giving Obama natural Indonesia citizenship which explains the name Barry Soetoro and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.
Obama admits in his book, “Dreams from my father” Obama’s memoir (autobiography), that after his mother and Lolo Soetoro were married, Lolo Soetoro left Hawaii rather suddenly and
Obama and his mother spent months in preparation for their move to Indonesia. Obama admits when he arrived in Indonesia he had already been enrolled in an Indonesia school and his relatives were waiting to meet him and his mother. Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian State citizen, could not have enrolled Obama in school unless Lolo Soetoro signed an acknowledgement acknowledging Obama as his son, which had to be filed with the Government. Under Indonesian law, when a male acknowledges a child as his son, it deems the son, in this case Obama, as an Indonesian State citizen. Constitution of Republic of Indonesia, Law No. 62 of 1958 Law No. 12 of 2006 dated 1 Aug. 2006 concerning Citizenship of Republic of Indonesia, Law No. 9 of 1992 dated 31 Mar. 1992 concerning Immigration Affairs and Indonesian Civil Code (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Perdata) (KUHPer) (Burgerlijk Wetboek voor Indonesie) states in pertinent part, State citizens of Indonesia include: (viii) children who are born outside of legal marriage from foreign State citizen mother who are acknowledged by father who is Indonesian State citizen as his children and that acknowledgment is made prior to children reaching 18 years of age or prior to marriage; Republic of Indonesia Constitution 1945, As amended by the First Amendment of 1999, the Second Amendment of 2000, the Third Amendment of 2001 and the Fourth Amendment of 2002, Chapter X, Citizens and Residents, Article 26 states, “(1) Citizens shall consist of indigenous Indonesian peoples and persons of foreign origin who have been legalized [sic] as citizens in accordance with law. (2) Residents shall consist of Indonesiancitizens and foreign nationals living in Indonesia.”
Furthermore, under the Indonesian adoption law, once adopted by an Indonesian citizen, the adoption severs the child’s relationship to the birth parents, and the adopted child is given the same status as a natural child, Indonesian Constitution, Article 2.
The laws in Indonesia at the time of Obama’s arrival did not allow dual citizenship. If an Indonesian citizen married a foreigner, as in this case, Obama’s mother was required to renounce her U.S. citizenship and was sponsored by her Indonesian spouse. The public schools did not allow foreign students, only citizens were allowed to attend as Indonesia was under strict rule and decreed a number of restrictions; therefore, in order for Obama to have attended school in Jakarta, which he did, he had to be a citizen of Indonesia, as the citizenship status of enrolled students was verified with Government records.
Obama was enrolled by his parents in a public school, Fransiskus Assisi School in Jakarta, Indonesia. Plaintiff has received copies of the school registration, attached as EXHIBIT “4”, in which it clearly states Obama’s name as “Barry Soetoro,” and lists his citizenship as Indonesian. Obama’s father is listed as Lolo Soetoro, Obama’s date of birth and place of birth are listed as August 4, 1961 in Hawaii, and Obama’s Religion is listed as Islam. This document was verified by television show Inside Edition, whose reporter, Matt Meagher, took the actual footage of the school record. At the time Obama was registered the public schools obtained and verified the citizenship status and name of the student through the Indonesian Government. All Indonesian students were required to carry government identity cards, or Karty Tanda Pendudaks, as well as family card identification called a Kartu Keluarga. The Kartu Keluarga is a family card which bears the legal names of all family members.
Since Obama’s birth was legally acknowledged by Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen, and/or Obama was adopted by Lolo Soetoro, which the evidence attached hereto supports, Obama became an Indonesian citizen and bears the status as an Indonesia natural child (natural-born). For this reason, Obama would have been required to file applications with the U. S. State Department and follow the legal procedures to become a naturalized citizen in the United States, when he returned from Indonesia. If Obama and/or his family failed to follow these procedures, then Obama is an illegal alien.
Regardless of whether Obama was officially adopted, (which required a Court process), by his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, or his birth was acknowledged (which only required the signing of a birth acknowledgement form), by Lolo Soetoro, one of which had to occur in order for Obama to have the name Barry Soetoro and his citizenship status listed as “Indonesian”, in either and/or both cases Obama’s name was required to be changed to the Indonesian father’s name, and Obama became a natural citizen of Indonesia. This is proven by the school records in Jakarta, Indonesia showing Obama’s name as Barry Soetoro and his citizenship as Indonesian. Again, the registration of a child in the public schools in Jakarta, Indonesia was verified with the Government Records on file with the Governmental Agencies.
The Indonesian citizenship law was designed to prevent apatride (stateless) or bipatride (dual citizenship). Indonesian regulations recognize neither apatride nor bipatride citizenship. In addition, since Indonesia did not allow dual citizenship neither did the United States, Hague Convention of 1930.
In or about 1971, Obama’s mother sent Obama back to Hawaii. Obama was ten(10) years of age upon his return to Hawaii.
As a result of Obama’s Indonesia “natural” citizenship status, there is absolutely no way Obama could have ever regained U.S. “natural born” status, if he in fact ever held such. Obama could have only become naturalized if the proper paperwork was filed with the U.S. State Department, in which case, Obama would have received a Certification of Citizenship.
Plaintiff is informed, believes and thereon alleges Obama was never Naturalized in the United States after his return. Obama was ten (10) years old when he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Obama’s mother did not return with him, and therefore, unable to apply for citizenship of Obama in the United States. If citizenship of Obama had ever been applied for, Obama would have a Certification of Citizenship.
Furthermore, Obama traveled to Indonesia, Pakistan and Southern India in 1981. The relations between Pakistan and India were extremely tense and Pakistan was in turmoil and under martial law. The country was filled with Afghan refugees; and Pakistan's Islamist-leaning Interservices Intelligence Agency (ISI) had begun to provide arms to the Afghan mujahideen and to assist the process of recruiting radicalized Muslim men--jihadists--from around the world to fight against the Soviet Union. Pakistan was so dangerous that it was on the State Department's travel ban list for US Citizens. Non-Muslim visitors were not welcome unless sponsored by their embassy for official business. A Muslim citizen of Indonesia traveling on an Indonesian passport would have success entering Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Therefore, it is believed Obama traveled on his Indonesian passport entering the Countries. Indonesian passports require renewal every five (5) years. At the time of Obama’s travels to Indonesia, Pakistan and India, Obama was twenty (20) years old. If Obama would have been a U.S. citizen, which he was not, 8 USC §1481(a)(2) provides loss of nationality by native born citizens upon "taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state...after having attained the age of eighteen years”, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §1401(a)(1) Since Lolo Soetoro legally acknowledged Obama as his son and/or adopted Obama, Obama was a “natural” citizen of Indonesia, as proven by Obama’s school record attached as Exhibit “4”.
Labels: barack obama, elections, illegal immigration, law blogging, legal theory
Parking should be a nightmare as thousands will likely try to cram in early to see
Sen. Barack Obama will speak in Civic Center park around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, then head to Fort Collins for a rally at Colorado State University.B-list Hollywood types will be out stumping for Obama in Civic Center Park and at CU-Boulder on Saturday.
Tickets are not required for either event, though people are encouraged to RSVP at www.co.barackobama.com. Admission will be first-come, first-served.
Gates will open for the Denver event at 10 a.m.
The public entrance will be near the Greek Theater on 14th Avenue between Bannock Street and Broadway.
Access from Colfax will be prohibited.
The afternoon rally at The Oval on the CSU campus is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., with public access at University Avenue and West Drive starting at 1:30 p.m.
Labels: barack obama, civic center park, colorado state university
Still up in the air about Amendment 49?
Labels: amendment 49, ballot measures, colorado ballot
Is John Elway's appearance at tomorrow's rally for John McCain a much-needed infusion of come-from-behind support from the NFL's premier 4th Quarter comeback king (and that will be the rhetoric, guaranteed), or a preview to a possible run for office in 2010 (Sen. Ken Salazar and Gov. Bill Ritter are both up for election)?
Labels: john elway, john mccain
By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.
Labels: barack obama, economics, Gold, john mccain, Silver
Ex-CU Professor Ward Churchill has joined 3200+ mostly academic types and signed a petition that calls Ayers' Weather Underground past "history" and criticizes attacks as nothing more than chilling "critical dialogue" and "free thinking":
More than 3,200 supporters -- including former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill -- have signed a petition protesting what they call the "demonization of Professor William Ayers."Lunatic leftists unite!
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's ties to Ayers have been questioned during the presidential campaign by critics who call the professor a "domestic terrorist." Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain, conducted a robo-phone call campaign in Colorado and several other states, calling into question Obama's connection with Ayers.
The phone call campaign against Ayers began at the same time McCain told voters he wasn't concerned with "some washed up terrorist," during the last presidential debate.
The petition, circulated online, asserts that Ayers' violent actions as the co-founder of the Weather Underground were just "history." The petition calls Ayers a well-respected, nationally-known figure in the education world. It also said that critics who call Ayers an "unrepentant terrorist" and "lunatic leftist" are "part of a pattern of 'exposes' and assaults designed to intimidate free thinking and stifle critical dialogue."
We write to support our colleague Professor William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who is currently under determined and sustained political attack. Ayers is a nationally known scholar, member of the Faculty Senate at UIC, Vice President-elect of the American Educational Research Association, and sought after as a speaker and visiting scholar by other universities because of his exemplary scholarship, teaching, and service. Throughout the 20 years that he has been a valued faculty member at UIC, he has taught, advised, mentored, and supported hundreds of undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. students. He has pushed them to take seriously their responsibilities as educators in a democracy – to promote critical inquiry, dialogue, and debate; to encourage questioning and independent thinking; to value the full humanity of every person and to work for access and equity. Helping educators develop the capacity and ethical commitment to these responsibilities is at the core of what we do, and as a teacher he has always embraced debate and multiple perspectives.
All citizens, but particularly teachers and scholars, are called upon to challenge orthodoxy, dogma, and mindless complacency, to be skeptical of authoritative claims, to interrogate and trouble the given and the taken-for-granted. Without critical dialogue and dissent we would likely be burning witches and enslaving our fellow human beings to this day. The growth of knowledge, insight, and understanding--- the possibility of change--- depends on that kind of effort, and the inevitable clash of ideas that follows should be celebrated and nourished rather than crushed. Teachers have a heavy responsibility, a moral obligation, to organize classrooms as sites of open discussion, free of coercion or intimidation. By all accounts Professor Ayers meets this standard. His classes are fully enrolled, and students welcome the exchange of views that he encourages.
The current characterizations of Professor Ayers---“unrepentant terrorist,” “lunatic leftist”---are unrecognizable to those who know or work with him. It’s true that Professor Ayers participated passionately in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, as did hundreds of thousands of Americans. His participation in political activity 40 years ago is history; what is most relevant now is his continued engagement in progressive causes, and his exemplary contribution---including publishing 16 books--- to the field of education. The current attacks appear as part of a pattern of “exposés” and assaults designed to intimidate free thinking and stifle critical dialogue. Like crusades against high school and elementary teachers, and faculty at UCLA, Columbia, DePaul, and the University of Colorado, the attacks on and the character assassination of Ayers threaten the university as a space of open inquiry and debate, and threaten schools as places of compassion, imagination, curiosity, and free thought. They serve as warnings that anyone who voices perspectives and advances questions that challenge orthodoxy and political power may become a target, and this, then, casts a chill over free speech and inquiry and the spirit of democracy.
We, the undersigned, stand on the side of education as an enterprise devoted to human inquiry, enlightenment, and liberation. We oppose the demonization of Professor William Ayers.
Labels: barack obama, terrorism, ward churchill, william ayers
So much for the MSM narrative . . .
Sen. Barack Obama is expected to hold a rally Sunday in Civic Center Park, where two of the last three Democratic presidential candidates to win Colorado held rousing political gatherings.SP and the Peoples Press Collective will be on hand for coverage. Stay tuned.
The campaign today confirmed Obama will be in Colorado Sunday, but did not release a location or other details.
A spokeswoman for the city's parks and recreation department, however, said the campaign had secured a permit for Civic Center.
Labels: barack obama, civic center park, democrats, ppc, propaganda
"Divisive . . . does not reflect the broad diversity of the DU community"
Boone the Pioneer, the longtime face of the University of Denver, will stay in retirement after the school's chancellor called the cartoon "divisive" and said it doesn't reflect diversity.The Walt Disney-drawn Boone doesn't offend current DU students, who seem puzzled by the bureaucratic diversity pandering of the DU administration:
The cartoon image of a grinning pioneer with his gun and coonskin cap was the official mascot of the university from 1968 until 1998, when he was replaced by Ruckus, a red-tailed hawk.
Alumni and students urged Chancellor Robert Coombe to return the retired mascot to official or semi-official status.
Coombe sent an email to the university community on Monday rejecting that idea.
The e-mail read, in part, that DU "cannot adopt an official mascot that has a divisive rather than unifying influence on our community."
Coombe wrote that the cartoon pioneer "does not reflect the broad diversity of the DU community and is not an image that many of today's women, persons of color, international students and faculty, and others can easily relate to as defining the pioneering spirit."
DU spokesman Jim Berscheidt said Boone "doesn't really represent the DU of today."
"We moved on 10 years ago and the decision was made not to bring back Boone in any capacity," Berscheidt explained.
"I don't see anything offensive about him. He's just a little cartoon character," said DU student Patrick Biggers. "He looks fun-loving."At least the DU administration isn't banning Boone from campus.
"I don't find him offensive," said DU student Katie Bird.
"I personally like him," said DU student Kristin Elliot. "He's pretty cute."
Students approached on campus Tuesday afternoon had trouble pinpointing who would be offended by the smiling cartoon character.
"He's got a full beard," noted DU student Kirsten Cangilla. "Maybe people who are afraid of facial hair?"
Part of the affinity for Boone would appear to stem from ambivalence over his replacement, Ruckus, the red-tailed hawk.
Those students who could identify their new mascot referred to it as an eagle, hawk, falcon, "prairie bird," "bird-thing" and "the red creature."
"Everyone knows Boone," said Elliot. "No one knows the bird thing."
Labels: diversity, DU Pioneers, multiculturalism
AN URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL COLORADO REPUBLICAN VOTERS
Labels: blogosphere, republicans
**SP's Colorado election results and analysis
McCain will start his day Friday at the National Western Arena. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9 a.m. Free tickets are required and may be picked up at the campaign office at 6334 S. Racine Circle in Centennial.Does McCain face an uphill battle in Colorado? Yes. But the actions of the campaign have clearly indicated a move to retain Colorado and its 9 electoral votes--despite the many wishes of Democrats and the compliant MSM.
He'll speak at the Durango High School football field at 5 p.m., with doors opening at 3 p.m. To get a ticket, RSVP online at www.johnmccain.com.
The Durango stop will be the first one by a major party presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy campaigned there in 1960, according to the Durango Herald.
Labels: barack obama, colorado, electoral votes, joe biden, john mccain, sarah palin
The battle of the VPs continues in Colorado--first up, a look back at Sarah Palin's whirlwind tour of Colorado, where record turnouts (22000 in Grand Junction alone) were marred by security snafus, the MSM tried its hand at voter suppression, and protesters decided to block Palin's motorcade in Grand Junction.
“If it looks like a Bush, if it sounds like a Bush, if it votes like a Bush, it’s a Bush economic policy."The Rocky blogged his appearance at UNC in Greeley.
. . .
Touching on his controversial comment this week that Obama likely will face a world crisis in his first months on the job, Biden told the Greeley audience that “every great president sees crisis as an opportunity” to make America greater.. “I believe Barack Obama will be a great president.”
Book Signing
"My Dad, John McCain"
with
Meghan McCain
WHEN: Thursday, Oct 23rd 4:00 pm
WHERE: Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch
9315 Dorchester Street
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
Labels: barack obama, joe biden, john mccain, sarah palin
**Update--McCain campaign responds:
Two senior aides didn't deny that Colorado appeared challenging, but pointed to the two key indicators of any campaign's intent, time and money, to make the case that they were still holding out hopethere.Winning Colorado will be tough, but obviously the campaign thinks that the time and money invested here with Sarah Palin on Monday and the "First Dude" of Alaska, Todd Palin, on Tuesday is more than just a meaningless show of strength in a state they expect to lose.
"We didn't send Gov. Palin there for no reason," said one, a reference to the vice presidential nominee's three rallies across the state today.
Another aide pointed out that the campaign and RNC's independent expenditure committee were both still on the airwaves there
"The combined reported spending of the RNC IE and the campaign is very similar, we trail by very small margins (around $500,000)."
While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak. Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the state.Pelzer reports that in addition to Davis, other McCain campaign staffers are similarly befuddled by this assessment:
"Gone," was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.
This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and "most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado."
Campaign manager Rick Davis is among the dissenters, believing the state remains within reach, several sources in and close to the McCain campaign say.
"It's not true," McCain spokesman Tom Kise responded to PolitickerCO.com. "I don't know what the hell they're talking about.""Insider" sources are always problematic, even for blogs. Is the campaign already cutting its losses? If so, then why waste a day of Palin blanketing the state, and announce plans for McCain appearing in Colorado later in the week? It makes little sense to believe Pennsylvania is part of the strategy (a state Bush failed to capture twice) but that Colorado is suddenly somehow off the table.
"We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's national communications director, in a statement. "We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win."
Labels: barack obama, john mccain, sarah palin