Thursday, October 30, 2008

McCain Trying to Win, or Just Manage His Defeat?

I made repeated pledges after embarrassing myself in 2004 to never make sweeping predictions before an election. So far be it from me to say that this means that John McCain is going to lose.

However, I see no real way of interpreting the news that McCain is spending money on robocalls in Arizona except to say that he seems to be diverting at least some attention to the goal, not of winning the election, but of managing his defeat in such a way that the stench of defeat doesn't affect his electoral prospects in future statewide elections in Arizona.

As Yglesias has pointed out many times, even if current polls show the race close in Arizona, it makes no sense to spend money there because any election in which Arizona is close is an election in which Barack Obama is going to win by, like, a gajillion votes.

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