Want to know why Barack has fallen behind McCain in the polls?  Curious about his apparent lack of focus as a change agent?  Want to hold his feet to the fire on a key metric?  How many states are you competing in, Barack?  

David Plouffe's admission today is telling.  And we should tell David Plouffe he's wrong.

"We’ve had people on the ground there for three years," Howard Dean says in a new article on Politico.com, Political exile strengthened Democrats, that documents the rise of the party from the ashes of the 2002 election. Although the article is about more than just Dean's 50 state strategy, its underlying message clearly vindicates that strategy. Who would have thought that competing in all 50 states would be such a radical idea? It shows the poor shape the party was in in late 2002. The article talks little about strategies or tactics of elected democrats, and almost completely about the blogosphere, 50 state strategy, and 3rd party groups like the Center for American Progress and Media Matters.

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, everyone's favorite tool Mark Halperin really stepped in it again.

Through some sort of contorted and tortured logic, Halperin made the case that John McCain's supergaffe on his home ownership is Really, Really, Really Bad News(tm)...

...for Barack Obama!

Naturally, everyone with a brain (and even some of those without a brain) immediately pushed back.

Hillary Clinton got a lot of flak here (and just about everywhere else) for being an "establishment" candidate.  Well let me tell you something "My Friends," In terms of "Establishment Credentials" John McCain makes Hillary Clinton look like Abbie Hoffman.  For all the hand-wringing we did over how Hillary's win might set back the progressive cause (which I never believed but we're past that now) a McCain victory would have a thousand times the negative impact.  For not only would we be talking about a NEARLY fatal blow to the "people powered politics" that the Obama campaign has come to represent, we'd be talking about THREE STRAIGHT PRESIDENTIAL VICTORIES for the most destructive, deceitful, and frankly "Undemocratic" (small "d" AND big "D") style of campaign this country has ever seen.  Anybody who has EVER spoken out against "Rovian" tactics would be muzzled for 20 or 30 years, and we'd spend a generation in the trenches trying to get people to hate their neighbors just to win elections.

I just returned from the opening of the Obama Office in Chase City, Va.  

Initially, I was confused.  There were far too many "older white women" there.  And a lot of "white, working class males" as well.  

All of which led me to think that I had wandered into the wrong building, "Perhaps this is a McCain office with all the wrong signage", I thought.  There were, after all, far too many eager young people, and WAY too much good food - you know, Democratic Stuff.

Then, I ran into the Party Chairs from the surrounding Counties.  Unless they have all flipped...  I WAS in the right place!

Survey USA just released a new poll which confirms what we already know--North Carolina is in play.

McCain gets 49 percent to Obama's 45 percent ... just barely over the margin of error.  Aside from that, there's virtually no good news for McCain here.  

The 50 State Strategy is hard at work in Wisconsin.  This morning, the front page of our local paper, Wisconsin State Journal, has this story above the fold (click for the webpage story):

Democrats beating GOP in money race

I’ll give you a few fair-use tidbits below the fold.  

With the way Obama has expanded the number of states in play, it's natural to wonder--which normally red states would have to be close or even turn blue for this to be an Obama blowout?  In looking at what's been happening of late, the answer to that question is becoming more and more obvious--Georgia and Indiana.  How's that, you say?  Well, both states would normally be an uphill battle for a Democrat in most years.  If Hillary were on the ticket, as much as I hate to say it, these two states would be completely out of play.  But based on the encouraging numbers out of Georgia and Indiana, as well as demographics, it's more and more obvious--if these states are at all close, we will drown McCain in November.

The purpose of this diary is to 1) dissuade the notion that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is in danger this cycle and 2) to make the case that Erik Fleming in MS-A is a viable candidate against Thad Cochrane.

For those of you that are worried about recent fluctuations in tracking polls, take heart. Polls don't always tell us the complete story of what's going on out there. What you should be looking at is how the battle is being fought. What may be different. Which candidate is taking the battle to the other. Who is playing defense? And most importantly, who is on the offensive?

Today we have this story which is quite meaningful--"Obama makes bid in 7 longtime Republican states."  http://rawstory.com/...

Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.

Here is the 50 state strategy in action as it breaks down on the county level.

Ryan, a young Waukesha organizer for Obama registering voters in record numbers in heavily republican Waukesha CO, WI, the bastion of conservativism, the home county of James Sensenbrenner. I bumped into his group on Saturday in New Berlin on the Farmers Market. He is the type of guy who's inspiring thousands and making republicans sweat precious dollars for every vote they used to getting by default as they start to lose even their most devoted following.

Before you read anything else I have to say tonight, I'd like to invite you to take five minutes to watch a video:

This video says what I can't always find the words for myself: that this campaign is about something much bigger than just me or my opponent.  It's about the people we've met and the communities we've visited over these last several months.

The people of Nebraska are the heart and soul of our campaign.

Apparently, John McCain and his campaign team still don't know how to use "the Google". Even if they failed to watch or read the news, "a google" could have shown them all the things wrong with their latest fundraising email:

The Obama Democrats are counting on their wealthy special interest groups, Big Labor Unions and unregulated "527" groups like MoveOn.org to fill their campaign coffers and try to bury our GOP get-out-the-vote efforts in an avalanche of special interest cash.

I guess being Republicans, little things like facts can't get in the way:

1. MoveOn closed its 527 operation last month.
2. The Obama campaign and the DNC do not accept money from PACs or federal lobbyists.

Donating is tough, I know. First of all, money is in short supply. And you're never really that certain that what you are giving is making a difference. I mean, $25 to a candidate? What does that buy? A dozen bumper stickers? A second of TV time for an ad?

But there's a race that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, and it just might be the place where your donation dollar goes a lot farther than it could elsewhere.

I'm short on time, so enough said?

Please take the time to donate $8.00 to send Colorado's Mark Udall to the US Senate.

Donate Here

Last night, doing fair duty for the local Dems in northwestern Wisconsin, I met the local Obama field officer, Kevin, from the San Antonio, Texas, area.  Friendly, enterprising, looking for people to help with the campaign, he is just out of the Army and working hard.  I asked if he were an Obama Fellow, and it turned out that he was hired by the campaign after having been a one-man whirlwind for Obama in a neglected, rural part of Texas, during its March primaries.

Do Kossacks have any use for Obama?

Many have decided that having seemingly stunk up the joint with sins including his FISA sellout/flinch/blunder real progressives have no more use for Obama. (My own belief is that Obama accommodated Congressmen petrified of the security debate coming in the general election.  If that was a tactical error it is one he can correct and will when he is President.)  For those who believe his vote was a sin motivated by a lust for office or some other grave character flaw i would remind that even the musk of the skunk has some good uses.  It is the base for many great perfumes for instance.  So even for those who hate Obama enough to cast a vote for McCain's proxies in the Green or Nader camp  you should not give up this great crowd gatherers potential without pause.    

How can you put this mans abilities to use for victories you want even if you think him a sell out or a blunderer?

Too many people have confused Obama's victory in the drawn out primary process with actual victory. Barack Obama hasn't won the election yet.