Hillary Asserts She's More Electable Than Obama
Posted on Sun Apr 20, 2008 at 04:23:08 PM EST
Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, 2008 (all tags)
Earlier I wrote why I think Hillary Clinton is more electable. Here's what Hillary said today in Pennsylvania:
Clinton also said there was no "contradiction" from her previous position when she told last week's ABC News debate audience that she thought Obama was electable after weeks in which her main case to the superdelegates who could decide the nomination was that Obama could not win a general election fight against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
"Yes, yes, yes," Clinton said during the debate last week at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall.
Today, she said, "He can be elected. I WILL be elected." "There is a difference," the New York senator said. "Look at the electoral map: I've carried states that a Democrat must have to win. Anything is possible, but I am more likely" to gain the White House against McCain.
McCain's strategy now is to go after the toss-up states, particularly in the west and southwest. [More...]
While the campaign would no doubt have to fight to hold on to some of the states that Bush won in 2004 - especially Ohio, but also Virginia, Iowa and Nevada, for example - advisers also see opportunities to pick up states that the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, won in 2004.
Those include Pennsylvania, where they think McCain could appeal to independent voters; New Hampshire, where Democrats have made recent gains but where McCain practically became a resident last year during the primary campaign; Minnesota, where voters have an independent bent and where the Republicans are holding their convention; and Wisconsin, where McCain campaigned last week.
His advisers said that McCain, being from Arizona, could make gains in the West and hold on to the Southwest, even though Democrats have made inroads in some of those areas. McCain even wants to take aim at California, which Republicans have singled out in recent years to no avail; he gave several major speeches there this month.
As I wrote in my earlier post, selecting the nominee needs to include consideration of which candidate can better hold on to the 20 states we won in 2004 and which is more likely to capture states Republicans won in 2004 but could go either way this time.
Here's my list of critical states the Dems need to work to protect: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon and Wisconsin.
States we could take from Republicans and McCain: Arkansas; Colorado; Florida; Iowa; Missouri; Nevada; New Mexico; North Carolina; Ohio; and Virginia.
Substantial consideration should be given to the candidate better able to hold/win those states.
| < Electability: Why Hillary Is More Likely to Beat McCain | Ratcheting Up the PA Ad War > |
