Author Ron Suskind asked people “on the edge of Islamic radicalism” about the U.S. election at various points during the election. (2:58)

 

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Co-Director of the Campaign for America’s Future Robert Borosage says that moderates are getting in line with liberals more and more. (2:06)

 

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Robert Borosage, Co-Director of the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF), said the 2008 election is proof that the U.S. is now a “center-left nation” at a news conference by the CAF today. He backed up his point by saying that on core issues like the economy, foreign policy, and social issues, “Moderates increasingly stand with liberals.”

Borosage praised the Obama campaign, saying they had “rewrote the book” on how campaigns are run. He went on to say that Obama had devoted more funds to its ground game than any previous presidential election. Borosage also said Obama’s campaign had greater contact with voters utilizing all aspects of media than McCain’s. He concluded his remarks adding that Obama’s campaign was “far more effective” than McCain’s in the last 72 hours before the election.

Stan Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Stan Greenberg said that the 2008 presidential election amounted to “essentially a 10-point swing from the 2004 election.” He added that the increased voter turnout among minorities and young people has created a “new alignment” electorally.

Greenberg also claimed than Obama also did better among many existing groups in 2008 than Kerry did in 2004. According to his research, white younger non-college women voted 28 points higher for Obama than they did for Kerry in 2004. He said that the under 30 electorate voted Democrat 26 points higher in 2008, and moderates voted Democrat 20 points higher than in 2004. In regard to the economic debate, Greenberg said, “Republicans lost.” He said that they “joined the argument and made the case for the status quo,” which led to voters preferring the Democrats on the issue.

Various Washington D.C. voters explain why the chose to vote for Barack Obama. (1:16)

 

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McCain-Palin Campaign Manager Rick Davis says that he believes a comeback is in progress for Sen. McCain. He also said Gov. Palin is still attracting big crowds at her speeches. (0:47)

 

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In a conference call today, McCain-Palin Campaign Manager Rick Davis said their campaign is “pretty jazzed up” as election day gets closer.

Davis stated that the narrowing polls between the candidates is evidence that “we fight back.” He felt the world was “witnessing one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary.”

Davis also noted that Gov. Palin (R-Alaska) has been generating a lot of excitement about their ticket. He added that the notion that she is hurting Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) “can’t be further from the truth.” He used the example that yesterday, Sen. Biden (D-Del.) had 800 people at his speech, while Palin had 20,000 people at hers.

Davis felt the polling in the last 10 days were the “best 10 days of polling since the convention.” He was also encouraged by the fact that Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) is campaigning in states like Iowa, which were previously thought to be easy victories for him.

Common Cause Regional Director of State Operations for Western States Derek Cressman is worried that there will be voting challenges or ‘cagings’ on election day (0:25).

 

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Citizen advocacy organization Common Cause has identified a series of concerns surround the upcoming election.

“Probably the biggest problem we’ve seen this election is troubles with people’s voter registration, where they’ll be going to the polls thinking that they are registered and told ‘sorry, we don’t have your name on the list’,” said Derek Cressman, Regional Director of State Operations for Western States for Common Cause.

Cressman partially attributes this to new voter verification policies, such as Florida’s hardline policy which states that voter registration data must exactly match other state information.

According to Cressman, there have been some instances when voters have been wrongfully removed from registration lists.

“We’re also particularly worried that in the final days before the election we’ll see practices that are known as voter challenges, where there’ll be partisan operatives at polling places challenging a voter’s eligibility.”

Cressman said that the organization is convinced that there are thousands of legitimate voters that have been wrongfully denied the ability to vote.

President of Common Cause Bob Edgar says that the organization has mobilized against these threats by sending thousands to work for the cause of fair elections and establishing the hotline “866-OurVote”, where voters can ask questions and confirm their registration status.

Obama-Biden Senior Adviser Anita Dunn says that McCain Senior Adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin’s admission that the presumed health care plan a person has at has at their job is better than any plan they could
receive with the McCain tax credit, is a “huge October surprise.” Dunn said that the McCain campaign “was coming clean” in a teleconference today.

Dunn continued, saying that the Obama campaign’s assertions that McCain’s health care plan is “inadequate” have been proven “accurate” with Holtz-Eakin’s admission. She echoed her surprise at the McCain campaign quote, and said that the Mc Cain campaign has had a “loose relationship with the truth.”

Neera Tanden, Obama-Biden Domestic Policy Director, said that 20 million people will lose their employment health care under McCain’s plan. She stated that putting people in an individual-based health care was inadequate because “people pay more for less.” She added that the statistics and Holtz-Eakin’s quote “reinforce that Senator Obama’s plan has been right all along.” She said that Obama’s system is employer-based instead of individual-based like McCain’s plan.

Tanden claimed that while Obama’s plan is expensive, every cent of the plan is “fully paid for.”

Obama-Biden Senior Adviser Anita Dunn says that McCain Senior Policy Adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin’s admission that a health care plan one receives at their job is better than any plan they could get with McCain’s tax credit is surprising but true. (1:06)

 

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