Obama Strategists: President Has Campaign Wrapped Up
Obama Chief Campaign Strategist David Axelrod and campaign manager Jim Messina told reporters on a Monday conference call that Mitt Romney has no momentum in swing states "from North Carolina to Nevada," and in essence the presidential election is all sewn up.
Messina and Axelrod held a press briefing with reporters on Monday morning and then released a statement on Tuesday highlighting their confidence that Romney has no clear path to the White House.
"Three things are now absolutely clear in this race – we have a significant early vote advantage in states from North Carolina to Nevada, there is no Romney momentum in the battleground states, and the Romney campaign has found itself with a tremendously narrow and improbable path to 270 electoral votes," said Messina in the statement.
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"Now, like Republicans did in 2008, they are throwing money at states where they never built an organization and have been losing for two years. Let's be very clear, the Romney campaign and its allies decision to go up with advertising in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Minnesota is a decision made out of weakness, not strength."
However, polls in North Carolina have moved in Romney's favor. Nonetheless, Messina touted Obama's ground game in the Tar Heel state and refused to concede an early defeat. "We have an amazing ground game there."
But one issue the two strategists brushed off was the fact that Romney has gained close to 30 endorsements from newspapers that in 2008 endorsed Obama. One of those is the Des Moines Register, Iowa's leading daily news source.
The paper, known for its liberal slant, hasn't endorsed a Republican candidate since they came out for Richard Nixon in 1972. Like most voters, the editorial board cited the economy as the reason they gave Romney their blessings.
"Which candidate could forge the compromises in Congress to achieve these goals? When the question is framed in those terms, Mitt Romney emerges the stronger candidate," wrote the Register.
"The former governor and business executive has a strong record of achievement in both the private and the public sectors. He was an accomplished governor in a liberal state. He founded and ran a successful business that turned around failing companies. He successfully managed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City."
When a reporter for the Register asked the pair if they have any comment on the papers endorsement, Axelrod seemed to blow off the question, but later said, "In just eight days, we'll know who was buffing and who was not," said Axelrod.
While Obama remained in Washington because of Hurricane Sandy, a team of surrogates, including a former Iowa Lieutenant Governor, crisscrossed the state in hopes of drumming up some last minute support. Former President Bill Clinton is expected in the Hawkeye State later this week.
