Obama can't take Arizona? Oh really?

[AZBlue]

Let me tell you from personal experience - I've never ever seen a grassroots effort in Arizona for anything whatsoever like I've seen for Obama. There are so many events, voter registration drives, debate watching parties, phone banks and canvassing efforts going on here over the next few weeks that you have to pick and choose between them because there's no way to attend even half of them - you'd literally have to be in 5 places at one time some days.

I'm going to a street-side rally today and will bring back photos - we already have 30 to line the streets today and are continuing this effort tomorrow and next weekend too (Oct. 6th is the last day to register to vote here).

And, last night over 250 sat outside to watch the debate the the Arizona Obama office. While that may not seem like a big deal to a lot of you, please remember that it's still in the low 100's here in Phoenix, so to brave the heat, you gotta be dedicated.



There were also many, many other debate watching parties all over Arizona.

I'm not saying it's a sure thing - it will be a struggle and we all need to fight as hard as we can to make it happen. But it's definitely possible, and that speaks volumes for Barack Obama.

[GodlessBiker]

1. Good luck! You will have upset of the night honors if you pull that off!!!

[iceman66]

2. Wow.

Obama should do a rally in Phoenix just before the last debate, just to get under McCain's skin.

[AZBlue]

3. I am hoping he comes here on one of his west coast swings. If he comes on a Sat. or Sun.

he could easily get 100,000 to attend. Easily.
Probably more.

[Bobbieo]

4. I'm hoping Obama will take Yuma County - Bit it is Iffy! Several Dems I have talked with say they

won't vote for Obama, which really saddens and shocks me. Maybe they won't vote which is just as bad as voting for McCain.

[grantcart]

9. I can tell you that I have recently had a lot of contacts with different county

and federal law enforcement and DHS types and I was surprised at how pro Obama they were. Many were Clinton supporters but now are all in for Obama.

Also many hispanics in the area who are normally in the middle or not very political have told me that they think that McCain is to arrogant or too old.

I did run into a couple of the old right right right wing racists who yelled at me, called me a tool of the devil in Yuma lol


As for Arizona it looked better before but now the polls there are wide apart.

[AZBlue]

18. I'm not sure how to explain the polls.

It is odd. I watch the local polls closely and The Arizona Republic(an) always shows McCain ahead. But, other polls from local stations show different things: usually they are a lot closer or Obama's ahead. Last night however was shocking: almost all showed McCain winning the debate - by a lot.

Yet, today's sign rally, in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Phoenix, maybe in Arizona, drew a lot of support.

I think Arizona has not been polled or assessed well by the media. I'm not sure why, but things just don't add up.

[blondeatlast]

25. I know a LOT of my neighbors don't have land lines at all and I also know

that in poorer areas that's even more true. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

My other guess, concerning the Republic(an)* polls is that they underpoll the Hispanic population, especially in rural areas. I used to live in Coolidge and that wouldn't surprise me a bit.

The polls out of ASU at least take the second point into more serious consideration, it seems.

*Did you know it used to actually be called the Arizona Republican? It really did; it was changed back in the '60s, I believe.

[AZBlue]

26. I didn't know that.

And I even worked there.

Yes, it's true...a sad tale from my younger, dumber years. I worked there. But, in my defense (sort of) it was before Gannett took over and it wasn't quite as bad as it is now. I'll admit though - I was stupid then! :D

[blondeatlast]

27. No worries; I still have friends who work there. I never begrudge anyone an honest living! nt

[Bobbieo]

28. My first husband, Jim Hart, was the M E of Bob Morrison's Arizona Journal in the 60s.

It was the first major offset daily and crashed in flames within a year.
Still leaves me with very bad memories!! But spurred me on to finish my BA in Jourmalsm.

[AZBlue]

29. Did you work there too?

The inside workings of a daily are very interesting.
I was laid off by Gannett - that leaves bad memories too!

[blue-kite]

36. Long time

Long time ago the last poll... that I can see early August, showed a +6 for McCain... Mason/Dixon poll

[blondeatlast]

21. That was the talk of my party last night. He will, I'm just certain of it. nt

[ihavenobias]

5. Keep up the great work AZ, K & R

:)

[True_Blue]

6. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama took AZ

I have seen a lot of Obama bumper stickers here in AZ but still haven't seen any McCain bumper stickers yet. McCain used to have strong support of the Hispanic community here before he flip-flopped on immigration. We also have a lot of new Californians here. There really are a lot of Liberals here in AZ. I think the only thing that is keeping AZ from turning blue is the Mormon stronghold here but they are slowly losing their grip.

[AZBlue]

8. They are slowly losing their grip and they can't compete with the new voters we're registering.

It's very exciting to see!!!

As for McCain stickers, I've seen a few - but Obama stickers and signs definitely outweigh them.

[blondeatlast]

24. I saw the BEST LICENSE PLATE--not a bumper sticker--the plate,

at the pool store near me two weeks ago. It was a blue Mini Cooper and the plate said...

08AMA. I was jealous!

[Cha]

16. They should be losing their grip..this is

our country not their church.

[MadMaddie]

7. That's good news! As long as it is not guaranteed for McCain

that is good for Obama.


Thanks for the update.

[ObamaKerryDem]

10. I'm in Tucson and it's the same thing

Events going on all the time (there was just a really huge voter registration event, 'Generation Obama', aimed at getting out the youth vote this afternoon). They also just opened up a campaign HQ here (out of the Grijalva HQ); I've been going in every Saturday and each time, the place has been PACKED. :D Plus I'm a member of the Young Dems club here at the U of A and we have at LEAST twice the membership of the College Repubs, at least 100 of which have attended the weekly meetings, which have occurred 3 times now; usually, you have a big first night and then only a fraction of the people actually show up on the regular, but it's been pretty steady! People are energized and it's not just (though it's certainly huge within it) the youth vote, either! Many of the volunteers are well above the 18-35 age range...hell, some are even older than McCain! haha ;) I totally think we can still take AZ; the mere fact that it's even a POSSIBILITY is pretty damning for McSame. He should be like 30 ahead here, not in the single digits like the last few polls I've seen....I'm hopeful that it'll at least be close! *crosses fingers* :)

Barack also has a LOT more TV advertising here, at least in Tucson. Hell, I haven't seen a McSame ad in weeks. I honestly think they are taking AZ for granted, which could well end up being a big mistake..

[jillan]

11. My daughter is at U of A and a member of the Young Dems club.

She's not real active, but she was at a street party last nite for Obama.

[ObamaKerryDem]

13. Aww, cool! I might've seen her there! :)

Small world! LOL

[Cha]

17. I went to the UofA back

in the early '60's when Tucson was just a little ol town!

[jillan]

12. Out in the east valley here, and there are ALOT more Obama stickers on cars

then McCain.

I'm hoping that either Obama or Biden make a stop in Phoenix.
Or even Tucson for that matter.

[ObamaKerryDem]

14. I hope so, too! *crosses fingers* If so, I plan to be there! ;)

[AZBlue]

19. I hope so too.

I won't care when or where it is, I'll be there!!!!!!!!

[blondeatlast]

22. Damn; I didn't realize you were local! I'm in the North Valley, district 6!

We've got a lot of new AZ voters here, my walk in the Norterra area (where I live) today was VERY productive.

[Cha]

15. That's such a beautiful sight out there in the

hot Arizona Sun, AZ! And, I've been in that so I know how enthused you have to be.

I love that desert sky line.

Thanks so much to all the dedicated Arizonans who are working so hard for us all in Arizona.

[blondeatlast]

20. AZB--I posted a debate watching party on mybarckobama.com last Sunday. I expected maybe five

people to respond--I got 21 RSVPs and 17 enthusiastic, energized Obama supporters showed up, including a couple who drove in from WICKENBURG (I'm just south of the Carefree Highway and east of the I-17.

Everyone brought food and we had an IINCREDIBLE time.

This morning, I walked my own precinct and the enthusiasm was palapble still.

We can do this; it won't be easy, but i'm beginning to believe it more and more.

[AZBlue]

33. It won't be easy, no.

But it's not impossible either. And if we don't pull it off, we can come pretty close, that I'm positive of!

Your debate party sounds like fun! I stayed home on Friday but am going to Tempe to watch Thursday's debate with Harry Mitchell, my Representative (who I just love!).

[TNMOM]

23. Go AZ!! We need you.

[4_Legs_Good]

30. Very, very nice!

That's awesome!!!

:)

David

[crazylikafox]

31. Do the Pubs have enough control in AZ to just steal it???

[AZBlue]

32. It's always a possibility.

I wouldn't expect it - but then again, I wouldn't put anything past the GOP.

We were actually a little smug here about election fraud - no one thought AZ would really have a problem with it. Jan Brewer is our Sec. of State and although she's a Republican I actually trust her. However, there have been some questions raised recently about possible voter fraud in poorer neighborhoods in the state (isn't that always who they target) but I haven't seen anything concrete on it yet. Plus most of our polling stations still have the scanners and not the new touch screen machines - of course fraud is still possible, but it doesn't seem as easy with the scanner.

The possibility is probably there more because of our strict Voter ID laws. You have to bring your driver's license or other approved photo id - it's a new and confusing law that has prevented some voting. It's even prevented some voter registration - you have to provide proof of citizenship when you register for the first time or in a different county. So while that might not be fraud per se, it does put obstacles in some voters' way.

Plus, I hear about foreclosure lists being bought in other states and think that could possibly happen here - Arizona's foreclosure rate is among the highest in the nation.

We just have to keep vigilant - as does everyone.

[crazylikafox]

37. Thanks. Good luck. Glad to hear you don't have touch screen machines, at least.

[tyedyeto]

40. Down here south of Tucson, scanners are the norm

with one touchscreen per polling place for disabled voters.

I have questioned the 'official' touchscreen person (there has always been one person at my precinct to 'answer questions and show how the machine works') for the past 2 elections about a verified paper trail if I wanted to vote with that machine. My answer has always been, 'there's a problem right now but it will be fixed later today'. BTW, I've always voted in the 8-8:30AM range. So, I highly doubt that by voting on the 'disabled' machine that any sort of verified paper trail has ever happened.

[Clio the Leo]

34. "Anything can happen child, ANYTHING can be."

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ~ Shel Silverstein

[AZBlue]

38. Great quote!

I'm a Silverstein fan and hadn't seen that for a while. Thank you - I'm going to print and post it! :D

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

35. EVERYBODY IN MARICOPA COUNTY: TAKE OFF YOUR BUMPER STICKERS BEFORE ELECTION DAY!

Sheriff Joe WILL instruct his minions to stop and harass people to keep them from reaching the polls. If you have a strong stomach, you may even tack a McCain sticker over your Obama one.

On the other hand, it may help to drive around with Obama stickers AFTER you've voted.

[AZBlue]

39. ANYONE in my way of voting this year will be very, very sorry.

:evilgrin: