Economy at forefront as Obama takes fight to McCain heartland

No longer having to concern himself with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama is heading into McCain's heartland to argue that he is better suited to sort out America's ailing economy than his Republican rival.

The focus on the economy signals that he has identified American voters' fears over job losses and rising prices as the key potential battleground in November. A spate of bad news at the weekend underlined what the Obama campaign will portray as Republican mishandling of economic affairs. The unemployment rate, now at 5.5%, saw its largest monthly rise in more than 20 years, while oil rose to a record $139 a barrel and the dollar fell against other major currencies.

For reasons I will never understand, McCain has decided to fight defending the economic record of Bush's government, and has gone as far as to say he thinks the economy has done well under George Bush. Why he would want to do this is simply baffling.

I have always thought that, if it came down to Obama and McCain, that Obama would trounce him come November. I am pleased to see that Obama is already prepared to mount an aggressive foray into the Republican heartland, and is obviously going for a landslide.

Senior Obama aides made clear that they intend to campaign vigorously in all 50 states, not just on the handful of hotly contested races that determined the outcome of the last two presidential elections. Obama has an in-built advantage over McCain, in that the gruelling primary contest with Clinton has bequeathed him a nationwide network of fundraisers and campaign organisers on the ground.

"We're going to be playing a lot more offence than they are," Obama's campaign manger, David Plouffe, told the Washington Post. Moves to bring experienced campaigners into the team have already begun. The New York Times reported that Patti Solis Doyle, who ran Clinton's campaign until she was ousted in February, will be the first of many Clinton aides to be taken on board.

Obama will need to secure all the 19 states and Washington DC carried by John Kerry in 2004 and then win at least an extra 18 electoral college votes to take him to the magical 270 needed to take the White House. Top of the list of targets is likely to be Ohio, which Kerry lost by only 119,000 votes and which commands 20 electoral college votes.

Much is being made of the fact that Obama lost Ohio by 10% to Hillary Clinton, but I still feel that the choice between McCain and Obama is very different than the choice between Clinton and Obama. And the fact that the Democratic turnout was so much higher throughout the primaries than the Republican one must bode well for any Democrat come November.

Some silly Hillary supporters have said that they would rather vote for McCain than Obama, but I imagine they are very much in the minority. And, as Hillary has recently called on all of her supporters to back Obama, one can only hope that the number who desert the party will be small.

And even those Hillary Democrats who don't want Obama seem positively enthusiastic when compared with the reaction of the Republican base to John McCain. The truth is that they have never trusted him, and don't see him as one of their own, which is why he is flip flopping like a loon trying to convince them that he is just as irrational as they are.

But he's not, and we all know it. The kind of lunacy that fuels the bile and hatred which makes Michelle Malkin tick can't be faked. And that's McCain's problem.

He's not only being forced to pretend that he's an extreme right winger, but he's having to pretend that he supports things which we all know, in his heart of hearts, that he doesn't.

That insincerity, that lie, should be enough to cost him the election.

And, from the way Obama is making headway into McCain territory, I suspect Obama knows this too.

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Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, US election 2008