Susan Ferrechio
Barack Obama’s top advisors are lowering expectations for a potential bounce in the polls following the Democratic Convention and said they expect a very close general election battle.
“I think the reality is this is a close election and there is not a lot of play, so you are not going to see wild swings in this election,” said Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who spoke with reporters Thursday morning at a an event held by the Christian Science Monitor. “This is also an unprecedented situation where you have two conventions, one right on top of the other an that will mute whatever effect there is.”
Axelrod and strategist David Plouffe talked about the tight race between Obama and Republican John McCain, who appear tied in most polls. They said the campaign is not focusing on national numbers, but is instead running a state-by-state campaign focusing on 18 states where Obama could win or at least challenge McCain, thus forcing their opponent to spread thin his resources.
Axelrod also blamed Obama’s poll numbers on the drawn-out and sometimes bitter fight for the nomination against Hillary Clinton. He called the convention, “part of the healing process,” and predicted it would help improve Obama’s support among voters in his own party, according to internal polling he has seen.
“We watch the polls obviously but what is important to us is the state-by-state stuff because that is where the election is going to be,” he said.
