Even With Polls Tightening, Obama's Camp Still Sees "Deficits"
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama returns to the campaign trail today, with several stops in Pennsylvania and Indiana. Yesterday his campaign downplayed expectations in both states, saying that they were up against "substantial deficits."
On a conference call with reporters, deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand said recent polls showing Hillary Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania shrinking are much more optimistic than what the campaign is seeing.
"We'd love to be ahead but the fact of the matter is that we have substantial deficits in the state and we are working to close it," Hildebrand said.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Clinton ahead 50-44%. Three weeks ago, Clinton was up 12 points in the same poll.
Indiana State Rep. Ryan Dvorak said Clinton had an advantage in Indiana early on. "There was a lot of party establishment support for Senator Clinton starting with Sen. [Evan] Bayh early on so we're starting with a little bit of a deficit but it's been amazing to see the momentum moving forward."
Dvorak said he saw lines of volunteers at field offices eager to get involved with the campaign.
Obama kicks off a three-day bus tour of Indiana tomorrow, where is expected to focus heavily on the economy. The bus tour will be similar to his tour of Pennsylvania last week, where he made frequent stops at local businesses to mingle with voters..