October 22, 2008

Report: Obama Internal Poll Shows Two-Point Race in Pennsylvania

@ 3:35 pm by Walter Alarkon

An internal Barack Obama campaign poll has the Democrat ahead of John McCain by just two percentage points.

WILK radio host Steve Corbett said Tuesday he obtained an Obama campaign e-mail about the internal poll showing a tight race. Pollster.com's trend line of public Pennsylvania polls has Obama leading McCain 54 percent to 38 percent.

Obama's Pennsylvania communications director Sean Smith said on Corbett's show that the field organizer who sent the e-mail may have been trying to energize Obama volunteers. Smith wouldn't confirm the internal poll numbers, but he said that the e-mail was sent without permission and that the campaign worker has since been reprimanded.

UPDATE: The poll is apparently from last week. But it may help explain Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) call for Obama to campaign more in his state and McCain's renewed emphasis there.

Listen to Corbett and Smith talk about the e-mail below.

Archived under: Campaigns, News, Presidential Campaigns
Tags: Barack Obama, Pennsylvania

36 Comments »

1. If you're DRUDGE reader, you should try out blipnews.

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   Comment by blipnews.com — October 22, 2008 @ 3:59 pm

2. This thing ain't over.

   Despite massive efforts by Obama, his supporters and the mainstream media to suppress Republican turnout by insisting Obama is unbeatable, he is beatable.

   Folks: Save your nation. Vote for John McCain!

   DCuz

   Comment by DCuz — October 22, 2008 @ 4:19 pm

3. That's what you get when a Democrat calls western Pennsylvanian's "rednecks".

   Comment by Kato — October 22, 2008 @ 4:26 pm

4. My Grandma, the Felch Queen of Pittsburgh, is a McCain Gal!

   Comment by Bert — October 22, 2008 @ 4:35 pm

5. This website has some
   funny t-shirts,
   check them out today

   Comment by Bill stone — October 22, 2008 @ 4:37 pm

6. Friends. Don't panic. In 3 months it's gonna be President Obama.

   Comment by David — October 22, 2008 @ 4:37 pm

7. So Sean Smith, what is the answer? Do you have a poll showing Obama up by two or is the Obama campaign simply lying to their workers to make them work harder. I would really like to know.

   Comment by henry Swin — October 22, 2008 @ 4:45 pm

8. McCain is going to win and then hopefully the race baiters and socialists will all go away quietly. I doubt it - they have shown no class whatsoever thus far - as in the last three elections.

   get used to it - the democratic party is too splintered with old worn out talking points and time after time after time you lose.

   This year you got a slick double talking new Marx dressed in a clean suit. Result will be the same - Democrats lose!

   Comment by Robert NYC — October 22, 2008 @ 4:45 pm

9. I am a redneck and I approve this poll!

   Go Stillers!

   Comment by western pa redneck — October 22, 2008 @ 4:46 pm

10. Well, that explains why Obama has Biden, Gov. Rendell; Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton criss-crossing the state. It also explains the column in yesterday's Philadelphia Daily News written by a columnist who said that McCain/Palin are in Pennsylvania looking to get the "cracker" vote- lovely-just lovely. Hillary Clinton clobbered Obama in Pennsylvania. I tend to think that good chunk of those Hillary supporters are either going to vote for McCain or stay home on November 4.

    Comment by michael — October 22, 2008 @ 4:48 pm

11. Barack Obama campaigned for Raila Odinga in Kenya, payed for by your taxpayer dollars!

    Meet Raila Odinga:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPEozzsVxos

    Comment by Larry Jones — October 22, 2008 @ 4:48 pm

12. Geesh,

    I did this? I meant to say everyone of my constituents have rednecks from standing in the sun working hard all day!

    Comment by Jacko Murtha — October 22, 2008 @ 4:49 pm

13. Who could forget Obama's Racist Pastor Jeramiah Wright:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH5ixmT83JE

    Comment by Kent Jones — October 22, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

14. Juat goes to prove a massive media conspiracy to help Obama. Who woulda thunk?

    Comment by Dennis D — October 22, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

15. Why would you vote for Obama Pennsylvania?

    Barack Obama's small town guns and religion comments:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTxXUufI3jA

    Comment by John Taylor — October 22, 2008 @ 4:54 pm

16. This post is over a week old at dailykos

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/15/05041/703/752/630799

    Why is this getting recycled here.

    Read the story too…I'm willing to bet that even regional organizers (which is what it sounds like who leaked it)…even get to see internals.

    Comment by Ron — October 22, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

17. If you read DRUDGE every day, you should try out blipnews.com

    http://www.blipnews.com

    It's a tool that allows you to sort all of the content from DRUDGE REPORT by most recent articles–so you don't waste another 30 seconds of your life sifting through stories you've already looked at…

    Comment by blipnews.com — October 22, 2008 @ 5:15 pm

18. Hey, didn't someone on the radio say thie same thing a week ago?

    Comment by Randy — October 22, 2008 @ 5:17 pm

19. This is old news. The "Tuesday" referred to is 10/14 - just clcik on the Corbett link above to see

    Comment by Ken — October 22, 2008 @ 5:21 pm

20. Randy
    yup … it's been discussed forever on them intertubes … the general consensus is that Obama is playing rope a dope with McCain - giving the impression that PA is not a done deal hoping to pull McCain in and force him out of other states like NC and IN !! So far it seems like its working very well - todays morning call tracking had Obama up by 11 in PA, the CNN poll that came out just now has Obama up 10 in VA and 4 in NC !!!

    Comment by ilvoter — October 22, 2008 @ 5:23 pm

21. Walter, why would you report on something that is from an October 14th radio interview without acknowledging that it's over a week old? Pretty poor journalistic standards.

    Comment by steves — October 22, 2008 @ 5:49 pm

22. This story is old! It was posted on Daily Kos and other websites over a week ago.

    Comment by mike — October 22, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

23. Good idea on Obama's campaign, to make sure nobody gets over confident. But if Pennsylvania was that close, Obama would be planning several more trips there, as of yesterday, he has no plans to go back in the next ten days. If you suddenly see him in Pennsylvania then maybe you could read something into it. Until then, no big deal.

    Comment by Greg — October 22, 2008 @ 6:25 pm

24. I wonder if the McCain/Palin team base their Pennsylvania public appearances solely on a "leaked" Obama internal poll? Somehow I think not. I think their recent Pennsylvania appearances are more probably based on what their internal polls show in relationship to the supposed "leaked" Obama internal poll of Obama by 2 points and that Pennsylvania as of right now is actually a lot closer than what recent public polls are showing.

    Comment by Ernie G. Orwell — October 22, 2008 @ 6:36 pm

25. I love that lots of you got all excited about this, when the story's a week old. Awesome. You folks are absolutely brilliant!

    Comment by Jake — October 22, 2008 @ 7:05 pm

26. Keep it up McCain folks. Only 12 more days fantasy life left for you. Then, President Elect Obama. With all the class McCain and his supporters have shown so far, I'm sure you'll all accept the verdict of the voters. For some of you, however, you'll have just what you need to keep you happy, something to hate. That is all the Republican party is any more, a group of people who come together to hate others.

    Comment by RP — October 22, 2008 @ 9:39 pm

27. DEMACRATS. Your Media Bounce is Over!!!! Now Your Planning Victory…..…. This is how bad it is for the Obama Camp. ALL TIED UP! That is from polling from.. Oct 18-19th. Sorry Dems,,,But McCain has the momentum going into this Election…..

    Get the Fork and Knife, and turn off the stove. Obama Is DONE!

    he….he….he….uh.ha..haa..haaaa,,,,uh UH..HA….HA…HAA….HA

    Comment by Drock — October 22, 2008 @ 9:59 pm

28. LISTEN All You Fat Libs. YOU EAST COAST ELITEST WILL NEVER RUN THIS COUNTRY…..GOT IT!!!!……….WE HERE IN FLYOVER have had ENOUGH
    We’ve had ENOUGH Of the Leftist environmental Wack Jobs Not letting our nation build more refineries to help our nation deal with the gasoline shortage. They Blame the Fat Cats. Republicans don’t want the oil companies to treat us like the do, but the people who put these Left Wing law Makers into our Congress should own up to what is all of their fault!
    We’ve had ENOUGH Of left wing judges believing that they have the education to re-write our constitution from their bench. If we let you elitist Left Wingers win, You will have our constitution model what ever the ACLU says it should.
    We’ve had ENOUGH Of you far Left Anti-War Pacifists’ and Your ilk of Bomb Makers. You and Bill Ayers Are on the Same……Aren’t You All So Proud Of Your Wako Leader, and his Buddy Barack Husain Obama.
    We’ve had ENOUGH Of all the people who say “Not God Bless America” “God Damn America!”. Oh Yeah, I forgot, That was a Buddy Of Borack Husain Obama That Said That as Well! WE’VE HAD ENOUGH OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SAY “NOT GOD BLESS AMERICA” “GOD DAMN AMERICA!”. OH YEAH, I FORGOT, THAT WAS A BUDDY OF BORACK HUSAIN OBAMA THAT SAID THAT AS WELL!

    We’ve had ENOUGH Of you Leftist and Your Drive By Media Treating Our Republican Babe Like you are all so much better than her. Give Me A break…. You are than saying that you are better than 51% of America!,,,, Not a good idea when you are trying to elect your Savior. Barack Husain Obama!

    Comment by Drock — October 22, 2008 @ 10:00 pm

29. i don't know about Obama's PA operations, but does it seem plausible that internal poll results would be shared with a "field organizer"? i'd suspect that only top campaign brass have access to that stuff. doesn't pass the smell test.

    Comment by furrythug — October 22, 2008 @ 10:17 pm

30. I think it may be a trick by the Obama campaign. If it is, that's pretty brilliant.

    Make McCain waste more time & money in a state he can't win (Pennsylvania) so that Obama can take more red states.

    Comment by Marvin Music — October 22, 2008 @ 10:33 pm

31. Wow. You PA rednecks make us TX rednecks look pretty smart by comparison!

    Bubbas for Obama '08

    Comment by Houston OWL — October 23, 2008 @ 12:39 am

32. McCain is a joke. First, lets face it he wont win in PA, and the Rednecks for Obama group is great by the way.

    
    Whoa, McCain Just Agreed With Murtha, Western PA Racist

    Comment by fderk — October 23, 2008 @ 11:09 am

33. God, grant us "The Bradley Effect". I'll take race riots over 4 years of Obama, any day.

    Comment by Diana Zapalski — October 23, 2008 @ 11:38 am

34. I worked in politics doing field organizing for 15 years. I never told a my staff or volunteers that any race was anything but close. We were always "just a couple points ahead" or "just a couple of points behind" regardless of where the numbers were at that time. It's about motivating staff and volunteers. It's the same reason a football coach tells his first place team that the game against the unwinning, bottom feeders is going to be tougher than they think. "on any given Sunday…" Motivate your people. If Obama thought he was within the margin of error, he would not be holding a rally in Indiana right now.

    Comment by Harry Walker — October 23, 2008 @ 1:57 pm

35. Questioning the accuaracy of polls?

    Fact: The Real Clear Politics average for PA in 2004 had Kerry winning by .9%
    Fact: Kerry won PA by 2%
    Fact: The Real Clear Politics average for PA in 2008 has Obama up by 10.3

    Obama released this "internal poll" to:
    a) Eliminate any sense of complacency amongst his volunteers
    b) Seduce McCain into wasting his time here while Obama steals VA, MO, OH, IN, and FL.

    Comment by Joe Cool — October 23, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

36. I would feel a lot better if Obama did spend more time in PA himself. He was there last week too. but I think he should have courted them with more appearances by him, and not Clinton. I agree with someone who said that PA wished it was Clinton, therefore they would go to McCain and Palin. I sure hope that isn't going to happen. I'm a nervous wreck right now. Right now, the absentee ballots coming in are about 55% GOP, and 44% democrats. There is no early voting in PA. I hope Philadelphia isn't suppressed, that's Obama's vote. He can't lose that state. He'll lose. Fl is NOT going to go to him, it is McCain's. Bush has lots of connections in there. Vote suppression always happens in the lower districts. Ohio is expected to have all kinds of Provisional ballot problems, because of long lines at the polls. If the line is too long after the polls close they get provisional ballots and they don't count until after 10 days after the election. Talk about suppression of the vote. That's rediculus. Personally, I think they should have polling outside, they do their ballots, and they get picked right up, and put it in one big mailbox. OR A ballot can be picked up, or printed online. It would be like a banking system. The people fill it out, and drop it off like dropping off a DVD. They have to have photo gov. IDs now in Ohio. So, there goes the Obama vote. Change the rules to stump people. Another classical stunt of suppression. Right now, I can't stand John McCain. If he wins it will be all about lies and
    deceit. Someone mentioned Obama campaigning for Odinga. That You tube video is really an Aids Rally, looked to make it look like he was campaigning. It was actually America promoting Aids awareness, and that sort of thing. A lot of government money was given to help certain sections in Africa that needed the help. Several leaders attended the Rally. The video was from three different areas. No, he didn't campaign for Odinga. If there was any money given it was for the Aids needs. That country needs extra money and help. You see all this crap about Obama is just nothing but crap. You see Tabloids can be books, magazines, and news programs. "We bring the news. WE decide." Fox News is like this. They take vids and splice them to make it look like it's something, and and it isn't. It is really edited. Right now that PLO Kashidi business is way blown out of promotion. I hope he sues Fox News. He wasn't bothering anyone. Obama isn't friends with these radicals. They are just acquaintances that you meet if your paths cross in work, or fund raisers for IL, education, and even campaign needs. This is Chicago. These aren't felons, but law abiding citizens now. Heck, McCain's campaign gave this guy money a few years ago. Remember Gordon Liddy, he was a domestic terrorist, and McCain had acquaintances with him. So, this guilt by association is just a big ploy to avoid the issues that count in this election. To doubt Obama is how McCain will try to win. If he does, our country is doomed. Anytime a candidate steals an election, the administration is awful. Look at the last two elections…all full of Republican suppression. Pages missing out of registers, voter rolls purged, provisional ballots wont' be counted…etc. It's a mess. It's ashame. Obama is a really good man, and very charitable. Anyone that gives up six figure incomes to be a community organizer, is not in it for the money. He isn't corrupt at all. He is not one who is sleazy. McCain,is.

    Comment by sue — October 31, 2008 @ 10:48 pm

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