McCain Calls Arizona a Swing State

[proud2BlibKansan]

McCain Calls Arizona a Swing State
It's the Senator's Home Turf, but It's Not Safe Ground in November

PHOENIX--Sen. John McCain’s big struggle to energize a suspicious conservative Republican base and attract crucial independent voters is a national fight that encompasses his home state of Arizona. Despite representing the state in Congress for 26 years, McCain is now confronting a resurgent state Democratic Party and a burgeoning number of unpredictable independent voters.

While Arizona Republicans are bogged down with nasty infighting and a slumping number of registered voters, Arizona Democrats are gaining voters daily. Powered by Sen. Barack Obama’s voter registration drive, Democratic voter registration is up 2.8 percent in the last year and Democrats are poised to gain control of a majority of the state’s House congressional delegation for the first time in decades.

The biggest shift in the Arizona political landscape has been in the number of voters registering as independents -- up 7.6 percent in the last year. Arizona is now essentially a tri-party state -- Republicans make up 38 percent of registered voters; Democrats, 34 percent, and independents, 27 percent. Securing a plurality of independents will be crucial to the presidential race here and Obama has the early edge. Without the enthusiastic support of rank-and-file Republicans, McCain could face a desert dogfight that could wind up costing him the White House in a close contest.

In a clear signal that Arizona’s 10 electoral votes are up for grabs, the McCain campaign has added Arizona to its list of 24 “battleground states” with their 242 electoral votes.

more . . . http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/mccain-campaign

[Bozita]

1. According to a poll cited on McLaughlin and Co., 86% think the economy's in the tank.

They're all swing states for the GOP this year.

[ObamaKerryDem]

2. Well, as an Arizonan, I have to agree with McCain (for once!)..

Everywhere I go, at LEAST 3 out of 4 bumperstickers that have anything to do with politics I see are Obama '08 ones. I saw lots of them during the primary and quite a few Hillary stickers, but only a couple McCain ones. And even less since Obama got the nod! :P Sure, I'm in Tucson, which is arguably one of the more (if not the most) liberal cities in the state, but Obama got a really great reception when he came to Phoenix in January (I think there were like 18,000 people there, if I remember correctly!) and when McCain's name was mentioned, he got a LOT of boos. So considering this and all the new Dems registering here, I think we could very well go Blue in the GD for the first time since '96...or come really close! And I'll definitely be volunteering and doing what I can to help make that happen! :D