Voting at lunchtime today! Can't wait!!!!

And yes, they are coordinating. They stay at the same hotels etc.

They will blanket us with ads - but their ground game is sorely lacking. We'll see which is more important.

At this point, I think most people either tune out or turn off political ads.

At some point, he has to consider they have done all they can in Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia. Even with all of those, he cannot close the deal without Ohio and Ohio is proving to be a tough nut to crack.

I can see him trying to look to Wisconsin for relief. I am surprised Iowa is not on that list, though.

it's starting to reek of desperation.

His arrogance will be his undoing.

And PA?

Not happening Mitt. The numbers in those states are impossible to overcome.
Wisconsin is the only state that is even somewhat competitive.

Republicans always think they can win PA just like we think we can win NC. Not happening. 1st debate sealed that. It's still mostly a southern state.

This is why you don't see Obama or Biden making any appearances there whatsoever.

The convention was a hopeful shot at turning it blue again and also building the groundwork for the eventual demographic shifts that will make it blue long term, but the 1st debate sealed Obama's loss there. Sorry guys.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1854739,00.html

overwhelmingly favors Obama. So I definitely do not believe Romney can afford to pull out of there.

to try and make it sound like they have some momentum. If they thought Pennsylvania was realistic, they would have never pulled out of there to send people to Ohio.

If you recall, McCain went hard after Pennsylvania in the closing weeks in 2008 because he knew he was going to lose. If you wrote off a state months ago and are now thinking, 2 weeks before the election, of shifting resources there, it is not to "expand the map." It is because you are acknowledging that you would lose the election as is, so you desperately need to pull a rabbit out of a hat in a state you don't expect to win.

If this is happening, it is Romney essentially acknowledging that he has blown it somewhere. Those Ohio numbers are ugly, and if Obama wins Ohio, Romney knows he will need to steal something else. This is a move from weakness, not strength. They have an Ohio problem, and they've had one.

bullsh*t article from yesterday. Romney is getting people to write articles faking momentum and 'options' a sure sign that he is in fact screwed.

Gotta hurt. NC is not in the bag and neither is Virginia. PA is the only state which replaces OH and it is a real long shot. Wisconsin only helps him if he is sure about getting Colorado and that is a problem. Michigan is a little better but not much unless he is sure to get NH and that is not a sure thing at all. And the underlying big issue for Mitt is that if he is losing Ohio he is also almost certainly also losing Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Over all if this it true, it is clear that Romney's plans of turning the race around based on the debates has now failed. The only real chance Romney had of winning was to completely upset the electoral math and that means being fairly sure he wins Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Florida and North Carolina. Right now he can't have much confidence in winning any of these states so it is a very long shot indeed.

It would be to pull resources out of Wisconsin and Iowa and move them to Missouri and Arizona. That would be seen as a desperation move and it clearly would be.

This would be like Obama saying he can make a play in Arizona. There was one good poll there but I highly doubt AZ is going to turn blue anytime soon. Romney must be realizing he has a tough electoral rode without Ohio.

Is right again, I think its just political spin. Not serious strategy.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/hotline/ad-spending-in-presidential-battleground-states-20120620
They haven't spent a dime in Michigan for a couple of weeks. Crossroads gave up on it at the end of July. Obama hasn't spent a dime on ads in Michigan ever. Ryan has visited once in the last 30 days while Romney has been a no show the last 30 days.

Romney and the Super PACs collectively gave up on PA in mid August. Haven't spent a dime since. There was a report earlier this week about Romney moving more staff out of PA to help in Ohio. Romney did one event in the last 30 days that was really tied to his visit to raise money. Ryan nor Ann have not visited PA in the last 30 days.

Romney is making a play for Wisconsin with ads and has been doing so (somewhat off and on) since Ryan was named. But Crossroads and the other Super PACs (ignoring Romney's own Restore Our Future) have not done much during the entire election. Romney hasn't been there in the last 30 days while Ryan & Ann Romney have been once.

They are continuing to spend heavily in NC. Obama spent $829k vs Romney et al who spent $3 mil in NC this past week. Romney has had 2 campaign events there in the last 30 days. Hardly a sign that Romney is pulling out because he's got it locked up.

And they're dabbling with a recent light ad run in New Hampshire but Ryan is the only one to make one visit there in the last 30 days.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/2012-presidential-campaign-visits/?tid=rr_mod

I think it's a little late for them to try for Michigan or Pennsylvania and the ad buys and campaign stops show little to no sign of Romney activity there. Obama has led them comfortably all year. I can see why Ohio might have them looking elsewhere though because if Ohio stays in Obama's column having led there all year, it's really tough for Romney to win the 270 EV he needs.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE7D81F31F93BA2575AC0A9649D8B63

Anyway, I suspect the Superpacs are going to be dumping Romney and concentrating on House and Senate races the rest of the way out. These guys want a return on their money and betting on Romney isn't going to get it.

I do view them like Romney himself in terms of viewing their campaign spending.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/hotline/ad-spending-in-presidential-battleground-states-20120620

Crossroads dabbled in Michigan up to August 6th. No other GOP Super PAC including Crossroads but excepting Romney's "Restore Our Future", has bought ad time in Michigan since.

Restore Our Future made two ad buys since that article:
Sep 24th $1.15 mil
Oct 1st $1.1 mil

Romney's campaign, the RNC and all the other GOP Super PACs have been absent in ad buying in Michigan since May.

I think they stuck a line in the water when they were struggling in September and then bailed out of Michigan.

Wisconsin is a different story. All Super PACs except Romney's & Crossroads stopped buying ads on Sept 10th. Crossroads stopped Sept 24th. Romney, his Super PAC and a little from the RNC have been buying ads there since - $9 mil over the last four weeks to Obamas $2.9 mil. But they have not been supporting it with campaign events. From the Walker recall, the GOP should have a pretty good ground game. Unlike Michigan or PA, it's a state they could ramp up. And that also might apply to New Hampshire.

the smaller markets in Michigan that reach into the northwest corner of Ohio is probably cheaper than buying in Toledo.

Just a thought.

combatting this?

i assume so, and hope so

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/15/mitt-romney-beats-a-retreat-in-crucial-state-of-pennsylvania.html

It was fun while it lasted.....

This is good, though, it indicates there probably is some moving of resources going on, which can only be bad for Romney, as it means they have made a calculation that what they have been doing will not get them to 270 EVs and they have to try something else. My guess is they go all out in Ohio and Florida and then hope for a miracle in some other states. This is still their best chance as slim as it is.