| On Friday, Wolf Blitzer posted on the CNN blog a post entitled "Does McCain have a chance in California this fall?" that was a rehash of what we've seen thoroughly dismissed elsewhere. In May 22's PPIC poll, Obama lead McCain by 17. In the Field poll(PDF), Obama also leads McCain by 17.
But LA Mayor Villaraigosa just endorsed Obama, and Wolf just had to ask him about California not maintaining its blue-ness.
I recently spoke with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who acknowledged that the Democrats will have their work cut out for them to make sure California remains solidly blue in November.
But the mayor, a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions, vowed to do whatever he could to help Barack Obama. And he predicted that the Latino voters will represent a major boost for the Democratic candidate. They did support Clinton in overwhelming numbers in the primaries, the mayor said. But that was because they knew and loved her and former President Bill Clinton, and didn't really know Obama. That, he says, has now changed.
The handwringing will continue, and that could be a good thing. Wolf mentions all the "outreach" the California Republicans are doing with Latinos. Ah yes, outreach like that from Brian Bilbray or Dana Rohrabacher will really convince a whole lot of voters.
I hereby challenge McCain to go all out in California. Yeah, make a statement here. Maybe if you spend $20 million, you'll cut into that margin a few points. So, go for it. |
