McCain Political Director Maps Out Election Day Victory

Laura Meckler reports from Fayetteville, N.C., on the presidential race. Mike DuHaime , the McCain campaign’s political director, says the presidential election is eminently winnable. Of course, it’s his job to figure out how. Mike DuHaime talks to reporters aboard the McCain campaign plane. (AP) The McCain campaign’s homestretch strategy relies on winning a swath of states that voted for President George W. Bush in 2004—some more Republican than others, and none out of reach, DuHaime said. That includes classic battlegrounds of Ohio, Florida and Missouri, as well as more traditionally Republican states of Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia. “Most of those are probably margin-of-error races right now,” said DuHaime, who ventured to the press section of John McCain’s campaign plane and was immediately surrounded by a throng of reporters spilling over seats. If McCain were to win those six states, plus all others leaning his way, he’d have 260 electoral votes, just 10 ... (link)