For Swing States, The Watchword Is "Worry"

Washington Post: Democratic Delegates Express Anxiety About Obama’s Standing

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Alec MacGillis and Paul Kane.

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The anxiety comes in several forms, but particularly common is the pained look, followed by the quick glance away and the lengthy pause, in the face of a simple question: How is Barack Obama doing?

"Ahhh . . .," said Barry Bogarde, political director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that the senator from Illinois needs to win. "Better," he finally said. "He's doing better."

Asked how things are going for Democrats in New Hampshire, another swing state that the party carried in 2004, the state party chairman, Ray Buckley, did not even mention Obama's race against Sen. John McCain.
He talked instead about efforts to win a Senate race and hold two congressional seats.

Jim Beasley, the commissioner of Ohio's Department of Transportation, did not have high hopes for Obama in his area of southern Ohio. "Ahhh, well. Rural Ohio will be difficult," he said. "Rural areas are difficult for him."

As the Democrats kicked off a convention designed to unite support behind Obama, interviews with several dozen delegates pointed to an undercurrent of anxiety among many from key swing states who will be charged with leading the push in their communities. They expressed doubts bordering on bewilderment: Why, in a year that had been shaping up as a watershed for Democrats, amid an economic downturn and an unpopular Republican presidency, is the race so tight?

The sentiment is strongest among former supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, though it is not limited to them. While many say they now back Obama -- a New York Times-CBS poll of delegates showed widespread support -- they are candid about the challenges they say he faces in their states.

Some have also shown signs of still being focused on the Democratic primaries and not being fully invested in the general-election effort. On Sunday night, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland echoed recent comments by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell that media coverage during the primaries had been biased in Obama's favor. And several top Clinton advisers will not be staying in Denver to see Obama accept the nomination, according to sources familiar with their schedules.

A CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll of registered voters released Sunday found that roughly two-thirds of self-identified Clinton supporters are now backing Obama, while 27 percent said they will vote for McCain. Other polls have shown Obama receiving less support from Clinton backers.

To be sure, many delegates here confidently shared the campaign's assurance that all is going according to plan. They argued that polls understate Obama's strength because they miss many of his younger supporters who use cell phones, and that many voters are only now tuning in to the election. Judy Byrne Riley, a delegate from Niceville, Fla., said she is impressed by the excitement about Obama in her mostly Republican area. "He can carry the state," she said.

Delegates were interviewed at state get-togethers, at targeted events such as rural and African American caucuses, and on the street. They largely represented the swing states where the last few elections were decided -- Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, as well as New Hampshire and others.

The delegates offered plenty of advice, such as urging Obama to deliver a more visceral message on the economy to win over stressed working-class voters.

"He's got to kick [butt] a little more about it," said Bill George, a former steelworker from western Pennsylvania who is the president of the state chapter of the AFL-CIO. Acknowledging that Obama's style may be too cerebral for that, George said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Obama's pick for running mate, could serve that role. "He's going to go run across this state and kick John McCain from one side to the other," George said.

But for some delegates, the concern is a more fundamental one: They do not share Obama's confidence that he can overcome the resistance many voters may have to electing a black president with an unusual background and name.

Some, such as Rendell, worry aloud about the "Bradley effect" -- the theory, disputed by some political scientists, that voters are likely to tell pollsters they will support a black candidate even though they don't intend to. With a little more than two months to go until Election Day, some of these most ardent and veteran Democrats have not bought into the idealism that has driven the campaign from the start and are unsure whether their neighbors and co-workers are ready for Obama.

[forevertru-2009]

I just noticed on my tv that White people appear to be getting more white and Black people are getting more black......oh well, what did they expect.

[forevertru-2009]

obama 8====)~~~~~0: The Democratic Party

[semperfi2008]

For Swing States, The Watchword Is "Worry"
Washington Post: Democratic Delegates Express Anxiety About Obama%u2019s Standing

I think the real phrase should read: "Be afraid, be very afraid". Hillary told ya so. The tide is now turning in McCain''s favor.

[republic1776]

I think when a Government worker runs for an Ofiice they should have to resign from the current position with NO future pay.
My employer won''t pay for me to take off a 1 1/2 years on while the payroll to get another job.
Why should us taxpayers have to.

[republic1776]

Obama can kiss off any of the states that Hillary won.
They will go with McCain.

[dogsoul]

"Ted Strickland echoed recent comments by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell that media coverage during the primaries had been biased in Obama''s favor. And several top Clinton advisers will not be staying in Denver to see Obama accept the nomination, according to sources familiar with their schedules. "

You know it''s funny.... liberals are simply NOT used to a world without the media beating a drum to THEIR tune... but when a liberal faces off against another liberal who''s got more favor with the media - they get juuuuuuust a taste of what it''s like to have media bias work AGAINST them for once... I gotta say, it''s been refreshing to say the least. And I gotta agree with the Clintons, the media DID favor Obama - but I don''t feel TOO badly for them.... after all, the MSM is so incredibly lopsided in favor of the liberal agenda it''s laughable - and yet all liberals can do is throw tantrums about little ol'' FoxNews or try to revive some outdated ''Fairness Doctrine'' to drown out conservative talk radio... fairness... psha, liberals don''t want fairness in media, THAT would REALLY do a number on them.... they NEED a massively biased mass media machine to keep thier socialist, treasonous, wholly unAmerican ideals in the mix...

Liberals - enemies of these United States of America

[docpeter-2009]

I am a vindictive feminist Hillary supporter and I am voting for McCain out of spite.

Posted by gop_forever at 09:33 AM : Aug 27, 2008
________________

I am beginning to understand you a little better now gop_forever (and that scares me). All this time I thought you were a Bible beating fundamentalist Christian, now I know better, you are an emotionally angst, delusional paranoid, and that latter scares me more than the former :-)

[bobmarisol]

August 27, 2000: Gore led Bush 53% - 44%

August 27, 2004: Kerry led Bush 55% - 42%

August 27, 2008: McCain leads Obama 46% - 44%

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Based on those numbers, you can stick a fork in Obama. He is done.

[themagic07]

The Honorable Man VS The Con Artist

PLEASE WAKE UP AMERICANS%u2026.A vote for the car salesman (con artist) is a vote for over 20 years of personal relationship with REZKO, Wright, Ayers, and Farahkhan%u2026He is an empty suit; he can say anything to get elected. This rookie is a big PHONY. %u2026.I%u2019m tired of all his rhetoric%u2026..The more I listen to this guy the more I hate him%u2026%u2026He can not be trusted%u2026

A flip-flopper to get an experience! He voted %u201Cpresent%u201D for more a hundred times, because he did not know how to vote %u201CYes or No%u201D %u2026WOW, this guy is a totally a joke!

Remember Muslim%u2019s sons are for life. Blood is sticker than water. He can say any thing and he can run BUT he can not hide.

I was a lifelong Democrat, but now Independent. I will never vote for Barrack HUSSEIN Obama.

Please don%u2019t be fooled by a car salesman. %u2026.As a patriotic American; I don%u2019t care if you are a Democrats or Republicans, we deserve an honorable man like Sen. McCain.

If you believed everything this car salesman said, you are a fool.

[fstop100]

NO WAY NO HOW WILL I VOTE FOR BARRY OBAMA