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No wiggle room

  • Matthew Price
  • 30 Oct 08, 11:47 PM GMT

End of the day in Mentor. Joe the Plumber turned up again. He gets a huge cheer. McCain's supporters see him as a real hero. McCain says he's the only person that's managed to get a straight answer out of Obama. Which doesn't say much for McCain's debate performances, I'd argue.

I met several people today who said they believe the tax message will get through, and is doing so. I also met people who said they had initially been excited by Obama and had considered voting for him, but as they heard more about him they were turned off. The messages questioning his patriotism, branding him a socialist, linking him to Ayers et al have worked with some.

I suspect, though, with fewer than McCain needs.

So McCain devoted a whole day to just Ohio, and will do the same again tomorrow. He's told voters here he has to win this state, otherwise he won't win the election. McCain has no wiggle room. One failure and he's done for. There's nothing to show that the polls here are moving significantly in his favour. I wonder what he talks about on that bus, when he's finished the day's campaigning?

Confusion

  • Matthew Price
  • 30 Oct 08, 11:45 PM GMT

Route 90 heading for Mentor, to the east of Cleveland Ohio. The police are blocking the entry ramps and the McCain convoy is slowing everyone down in the evening commute.

One woman parked on the entry ramp's confused. "Who is it," she asks excitedly, "Obama?"

Straight-talking John McCain

  • Matthew Price
  • 30 Oct 08, 06:42 PM GMT

Sandusky, Ohio: A quick dash through the north of Ohio, the sun now warming the ground. It's such a beautiful day. We stopped at another charming little town, Sandusky, its roads lined with McCain supporters. A small but vocal group of Obama voters stood among them, shouting for their candidate.

Then the McCain campaign deployed its secret weapon.

Yes, it was John McCain, but it was a different kind of John McCain - one we have not seen for a while. He delivered a rousing, articulate, and intimate speech on a gazebo in the middle of the town.

He loved it, the crowd loved it. He was able to speak directly to people, rather than from a perch on some anonymous stage where he often seems less than comfortable. He is certainly a lot better at speaking off the cuff than he is at reading an autocue.

Why has the campaign not deployed "John the straight-talker" for what seems like an eternity? His rallies look good on TV, but today was the best performance I have seen him give. He was up close and personal with the crowd - and speaking in his own words. In an election that is so much about image, surely a relaxed, happy John McCain would have played better than the slightly awkward, slightly removed politician standing above a crowd that we have grown more used to seeing?

Is he finding his voice, and himself in the last few days?

Defiant in Defiance?

  • Matthew Price
  • 30 Oct 08, 01:49 PM GMT

Defiance, Ohio: This is a town John McCain picked - we are told - because of its name.

defiance_226.jpg

It is bitterly cold, but bright and beautifully sunny. John McCain looks relaxed.

This is his final push here, and we'll follow him today across northern Ohio.

I asked people here to describe John McCain to me.

According to them he is a patriot, a man who fights for his country, a man who has his country's best interests at heart, a man who will change Washington.

One senior citizen told me he had not even heard of Barack Obama until a few months ago. How could he vote for him, he asked?

The crowd is excited as Mr McCain steps up. But do they represent the majority of US voters?

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