Rick Davis: McCain 'Dead Even in Iowa'

Townhall ^ | 10/31/08 | Matt Lewis

[AHerald]

Everyone has written-off Iowa. In fact, we've been very curious as to why McCain -- who opposes Ethanol subsidies -- has "wasted" his time there this year.

I'm on a conference call right now with McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. According to Davis, McCain's internal polling shows them "dead-even in Iowa." Davis says this is the reason Obama is headed there to campaign ...

[KCengineer]

Some guilt.

Lots of “Great Society” ignorance. If you took 500 Iowans and stuck them in an urban environment - they would never vote Democrat again.

They don’t see it, they don’t know.

[Pappy Smear]

Col. Bud Day’s book that you mentioned is awesome. Can’t imagine how those guys did it in the Hanoi Hilton. Interesting takes on McCain too. Back to Bud Day tho...that guy had more lives than a cat. He should have died a bunch of times, but avoided the reaper.

[cherry]

welcome newbie...enjoy your stay...

NOW FOLKS....LETS NOT FORGET THAT FIGHTERS FIGHT ...

WE MUST KEEP THE HEAT UP!

MCCAIN AND OUR WONDERFUL SARAH WIN IF...IF..IF...WE VOTE....VOLUNTEER...DONATE...

AND DONATE AGAIN TODAY IF YOU CAN......

THIS IS OUR LEGACY.....

[Iowa Granny]

How are things looking on the ground there?

Looks to be a toss up to me, based on No Party phone calls I've been making from Rep. Hqtrs.

[Mac from Cleveland]

BINGO.

[southernnorthcarolina]

All I remember about that was that it was like water torture waiting for the Iowa call.

True. But not many remember, because Ohio had been called for Bush, and Kerry had conceded, before Iowa was called. Hence, Iowa didn't matter; Bush would have won even if Kerry had won Iowa.

It may be different this time, with so many states in play. We could have upside and downside surprises. Every state is important.

[Pappy Smear]

Some guilt. Lots of “Great Society” ignorance. If you took 500 Iowans and stuck them in an urban environment - they would never vote Democrat again. They don’t see it, they don’t know.

You beat me to it brother. I was going to call it naive. Life is pretty good here in Iowa. There is not much crime, the economy is in good shape compared to the rest of the country (housing hasn't dropped, crop prices high). I don't think there is a realization of 0bama's thugocracy that will come to pass.

I think there is also some white guilt. Iowa (and I think Mississippi) are the only states to have never elected a woman or minority to US Senate, House, or the Governor chair.

I am seeing a lot of Obama signs around tho. All the folks I know that are voting for Obama are nice people. They have just bought into the magic unicorn, pixie dust of 0bama. It is simply, "Oh, he would do so much good for the country." I think their opinions could be changed-they are not hard core democrats, they just like having faith in the messiah-because it is the easy answer.

[Kevmo]

bmflr

[VOA]

Back to Bud Day tho...that guy had more lives than a cat.
He should have died a bunch of times, but avoided the reaper.

"American Patriot" is Exhibit A for my personal preference
to read history/non-fiction books.
Because the truth is something "you just couldn't make up".

I tell you, I was still steaming at McCain over his buddy-act
with the likes of Teddy Kennedy and Feingold.
And his "comprehensive immigration reform" junk.
And I probably will be even after the election.

But seeing Col. Bud Day with McCain during the primary and in
the audience at Minneapolis...well, that sealed the deal for me.

It also (gently) shocked me back to sanity to realize that
even if McCain has plenty of negatives
(which Day did mention in the book)...
McCain beats Obama on many issues.
(Of course, I was NEVER going to vote for Obama!!!)

[taildragger]

Did anyone ever see the Interviews before his tragic car accident that took the life of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team Coach Herb Brooks?

He said one of his tactics was to tell they guys during practice, was something like this; guys these guys are slipping, they are ripe for a loss, in other words he was planting a seed of positive performance in his Players.

Maybe we are getting the same type of signals here.....

[diamond6]

Woo Hoo!!!

I have a friend in Iowa who is a Kool Aid drinking Obamaite.
He has been giving me a hard time about how Messiah is going to walk all over McCain both in Iowa and nationwide.

I’d like the state of Iowa up his ass!

[Caipirabob]

SEND SARAH!!!!

DELPOY THE PALIN-ATOR!

[Caipirabob]

SEND SARAH!!!!

DEPLOY THE PALIN-ATOR!

doh!

[Caipirabob]

SEND SARAH!!!!

DEPLOY THE PALIN-ATOR!

doh!

[Mariebl]

Oh I see “Dead-even” rather than “Dead; even in Iowa.”

I read it that way, too! The English language is a fearful and wonderful thing, isn't it.

[Rippin]

http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/esl.html

[Clintonfatigued]

Wow, this is big news. It would be a major comeback if McCain were to bag this state.

[Salvation]

From a Rick Davis email:

An AP poll released this morning revealed a very telling fact: ONE out of every SEVEN voters is undecided. That means, if 130 million voters turn out on Tuesday, 18.5 million of them have yet to make up their mind. With that many votes on the table and the tremendous movement we've seen in this race, I believe we are in a very competitive campaign.

Here's why:

All the major polls have shown a tightening in the race and a significant narrowing of the numbers. In John McCain's typical pattern, he is closing strong and surprising the pundits. We believe this race is winnable, and if the trajectory continues, we will surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed on Election Night.

• National Polls: Major polls last week showed John McCain trailing by double-digit margins - but by the middle of this week, we were within the margin of error on four national tracking surveys. In fact, the Gallup national tracking survey showed the race in a virtual tie 2 days this week.
  
  
• State Polls:
  
  Iowa - Our numbers in Iowa have seen a tremendous surge in the past 10 days. We took Obama's lead from the double digits to a very close race. That is why you see Barack Obama visiting the state in the final days, trying to stem his losses. It is too little, too late. Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain's column.
  
  The Southwest - It is no secret that Republican candidates in the Southwest have to focus on winning over enough Latino and Hispanic voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to carry them to victory. John McCain has overcome challenges Republicans face, and has made up tremendous ground in these states with these voters. For these voters, the choice has become clear, and you have seen a big change in the numbers. John McCain is now winning enough voters to perform within the margin of error - putting these states within reach.
  
  Colorado - Barack Obama tried to outspend our campaign in Colorado during the early weeks of October and finish off our candidate in Colorado. However, after our visit early this week, we saw a tremendous rebound in our poll position, and Colorado is back on the map.
  
  Ohio and Pennsylvania - Everyone knows that vote rich Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key battlegrounds for this election. Between the two: 41 electoral votes and no candidate has gotten to the White House without Ohio. Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been campaigning non-stop in these key battleground states and tonight Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has pumped up our campaign at a rally in Columbus. Our position in these states is strong and undecided voters continue to have a very favorable impression of our candidate.