On a conference call to give the state of the race, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe just announced that the campaign is going on the air in three additional states: Georgia, North Dakota and Arizona. The campaign has organizations on the ground in all of those states and has seen "movement."
In Georgia and North Dakota, the campaign will be running the "Rear view" ad. In Arizona, it's the positive closer.
This is a big development.
Just this morning, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the prospect of t.v. adverstising in that state:
The latest polls show the Obama-McCain race to be neck-and-neck —- one poll showed McCain ahead by 1 point, another had him up by 5 but yet another had him down by 3. And while the race for Georgia’s 15 electoral votes is tight, neither side appears to be investing significant cash or resources to win it in the final days. Neither campaign has announced visits by the candidates or their top surrogates. As of Thursday, neither had bought last-minute television advertising here.If it's that simple, then the Obama campaign is making a very important move. Also, this can really help Jim Martin defeat that nasty Saxby Chambliss in the Georgia Senate race. So, it's doubly beneficial. In Georgia, the Obama campaign has a strong organization and, according to Plouffe, "early vote is going extremely well."
And that, Matt Towery believes, is a real mistake for the Obama campaign.
“If the Obama campaign goes on the air with television advertising in this city, in this state, beginning this week to Election Day, Barack Obama will win Georgia,” said Towery, the former Republican state lawmaker and CEO of Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage. “If he doesn’t go on TV, Obama will lose Georgia. It’s that simple.”
And, Arizona. Love that.
