Obama Camp Sees Potential in Discontent on Right: May attract disaffected Republicans

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Obama Camp Sees Potential in Discontent on Right
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: July 31, 2008

....Republican anger over the Iraq war and the economy has left some advisers to Mr. Obama hopeful that they can capture pockets of Republican votes on Election Day in states like Alaska, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota and Virginia. Advisers also said they had recently begun emphasizing Mr. Obama’s ties to Republicans as a way to make undecided independent voters more comfortable with him.

In recent weeks, Obama aides have met with Republican leaders in crucial states to strategize about wooing undecided voters. The campaign is considering inviting Republicans to speak at the Democratic convention. Obama aides pointed to a defense by Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, a critic of the war, after Senator John McCain’s campaign ran an advertisement attacking Mr. Obama. And they have tapped sympathetic Republican brand names like Susan Eisenhower, the granddaughter of the former president, to reach out to party members.

Obama advisers say support from Republican voters could be critical if Mr. McCain makes gains in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two states recent Democratic presidential nominees have carried but where Mr. Obama is struggling among working-class white voters.

Based on recent polls, as well as interviews with Obama advisers, Republican voters are not moving to Mr. Obama at a greater pace than they moved to Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee in 2004. In the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted this month, 9 percent of Republicans said they would vote for Mr. Obama if the election were held today; at the same point in 2004, 6 percent said they would have supported Mr. Kerry, a statistically insignificant difference.

But analysts also note that sizable numbers of voters who typically support Republicans — or were solidly behind President Bush at this point in 2000 and 2004 — remain undecided about Mr. McCain....

The Obama campaign is not overstating its expectations about Republican support. Aides are concentrating organizing and polling on independents and Democrats, and are working to leverage two potential advantages this year: increased Democratic voter registration and black voters energized by the prospect of the first African-American nominee. Yet advisers say that Mr. Obama’s emphatic message that he is not a partisan politician — combined with the unpopularity of President Bush and some qualms about Mr. McCain’s positions, temperament and age — may attract disaffected Republicans....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/us/politics/31repubs.html

[babylonsister]

1. Discontent in McCrabby and the rethug party? Say it isn't so!

We can hope. McGrumpy's campaign is knee-jerk, no real plan as far as I can see.