•  Campaign Videos (June 2012) « Obama for America
  

[Music v. low]  Jim Messina: Hi everyone.  I'm Jim Messina, campaign manager of Obama for America.  I've got a quick update for you on where the race is right now and our outlook for the next five months.

Over the past few weeks I've had people asking me about all the polls that we're seeing.  I say the same thing to all of them.  We knew this was going to be a tough race and we knew that once Mitt Romney locked up the nomination, Republicans would get behind him and this race would be tight, just like we always knew it would be. 

You know what really matters in a close election?  The unprecedented grassroots organizing we're doing every day in states across the country.  We're following the strategy we've had from day one and we can't afford to lose focus on that.

Here's one more thing you can tell your friends when they ask you about the latest polls.  We're actually ahead of where we were at this point last time around.  Remember summer of 2008?  Folks don't remember it this way but in May and June of 2008 a lot of polls were saying we'd never pull it off.  In fact eight different national polls had us anywhere from neck-and-neck to down a few points. 

But you talked to your friends and neighbors and voters those polls had counted out showed up on Election Day in record numbers.  We're going to do that again this year on an even bigger scale, and this time around we're starting out with an advantage. 

If the election were held today, we would win 243 of the 270 electoral votes we need to win.  Romney would come in at 191 with 104 electoral votes up for grabs in the battleground states where we're doing some of our best organizing, opening up offices, staffing up, and registering voters.  These are states where we've already out organized what we did in 2008, which, to quote the vice president is a big, um, deal.

A quick example.  In North Carolina in 2008 we won by 14,000 votes, but we registered more than 160,000 new voters.  That was the difference.  That's how we won.  This time around we're taking the same approach.  So while polls say it's too close to call in North Carolina, what matters to me is this.  We've already registered 83,000 voters this cycle in North Carolina.  Organizing on the ground, talking to voters, getting you involved, that's how we win. 

All this is just to say one thing.  The only poll that really matters is November 6, Election Day.  We can't pay attention to anything else good or bad.  We need to keep focusing on building our campaign, and that's exactly what we're doing.  We're going to run the most sophisticated grassroots campaign this country's ever seen, and to do that we need to stay focused, work hard, and ignore the ups and downs.

When things get tough out there remember why we're doing this, to make sure that all Americans get a fair shot and a fair shake in this economy, to make sure that all of our kids can go as far as their talents can take them.  That's what this is about, and it's worth the fight.

So keep up the great work out there, hit the doors, send in a contribution and let's go win this thing.  Thanks everyone; we'll see you soon.

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Copyright © 2012 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.