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Obama warns against getting ‘cocky’

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama greets supporters during a rally at Mack’s Apples in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Thursday.  PHOTO: AFP

Democrat presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama extended his front-running campaign into West Virginia, a bastion of white, middle-class voters and confidently broached the subject of victory in a presidential contest playing out on Republican turf.

Republican rival Senator John McCain found himself looking for a break as he was largely forced to defend his standing in states that US President George W. Bush won four years ago.

“We are now 19 days not from the end but from the beginning,” Obama told the crowd at a New York fundraiser on Thursday, a day after the final presidential debate.

He noted the “extraordinary” work ahead for the next president.

Still, the Democrat warned against getting “giddy or cocky,” reminding supporters with two words: “New Hampshire” — reminding supporters of his loss in that state early in the primary season after winning the first contest in Iowa.

“You know, I’ve been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked,” he said.

A day after the fierce and personal live presidential debate, Obama and McCain were on the same platform again, probably for the last time in the campaign, helping raise charity funds in New York City at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner by exchanging wittier jibes.

Obama facetiously told the audience that his own “greatest strength would be my humility.”

Said Obama: “Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth,” a reference to Superman.

McCain joked that Obama “is ready for any contingency, even the possibility of a sudden and dramatic market rebound. I’m told that at the first sign of a recovery, he will suspend his campaign and fly immediately to Washington to address the crisis,” said the Republican, who drew criticism when he suspended his campaign a few weeks ago and flew to Washington during the crisis.

Obama’s West Virginia foray may signal that financial concerns are trumping any prejudices among white working-class voters. A recent AP-GfK poll showed that Obama, who would be the country’s first black president, has inched up among whites with no college education while McCain has lost significant ground.

Obama lost West Virginia’s Democratic primary to Clinton by 41 percentage points last May as he struggled to win over working-class whites. But Democrats familiar with the strategy say the economic turmoil in the hard-hit state and TV ads meant for neighboring Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia that have spilled over onto West Virginia televisions have made the state competitive. The last Democrat to win there was former president Bill Clinton in 1996.

These Democrats say Obama’s campaign also is considering pouring money into reliably Republican Kentucky and may yet return to the airwaves in North Dakota and Georgia.

McCain is trying to change the dynamics and beat the odds, but even Republicans acknowledge it’s largely out of McCain’s hands.

“It appears Obama is trying to build a mandate,” said Steve Lombardo, a Republican pollster in Washington. “Can McCain do anything to turn it around? Doubtful.”

Obama’s lead appears to be more pronounced in the state races. An Associated Press analysis shows Obama with the advantage in states representing 264 electoral votes — just shy of the 270 needed for victory. McCain is favored in states representing 185 votes, with six states totaling 80 electoral votes up in the air.



Also See: Presidential election practically over for McCain, pollsters say
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