With 75 days left until Election Day, Team Obama's top ranks said Thursday they're encouraged by the campaign's standing among key voting constituencies, including women, African Americans, Latinos and younger members of the electorate.
At a briefing for reporters, senior campaign officials pointed to a consistent lead in national polling as well as a sufficiently favorable view of the president among undecided voters to argue the real story of the general race is one of consistency, not volatility.
"We've heard a lot from the Romney campaign about the sort of 'Field of Dreams' scenario that you know this is 1980 and undecided voters are going to flock to him after his Reagan-esque performances at the debates," one official said. "One of the problems with that scenario is undecided voters have an increasingly negative view of Governor Romney. He goes into - as has been noted by many of you - into his convention as the least popular nominee in modern history."
Additionally, the official argued, "The electorate isn't structured for the sort of wave scenario," that reports have indicated the Romney campaign may be counting on.
Ticking off positive polls of various voting blocs that make up the Obama campaign's base of support, the campaign officials tried to paint a rosy picture of their standing at this point in the race. In reference to Latino voters, a large voting bloc that turned out for then-candidate Barack Obama overwhelmingly in 2008, one official said they "believe" they will mobilize Latino voters effectively to turn out to the polls in November, specifically in states like Nevada and Colorado that have larger Hispanic populations now than they did four years ago.
"Support among Latino voters has grown and to historically strong levels. The question has come up in the past, do we think we can approach the numbers that we did in 2008? And the answer to that is yes," the official said, adding that their efforts are aided by a candidate in Mitt Romney they said has failed to move the dial through a range of campaign strategies.
After being consistently outraised since Romney secured the GOP nomination, one Obama campaign official pointed to stable poll numbers to show that their opponents' fundraising advantage hasn't changed his position in the polls. If the past is any indication, the Obama campaign is likely to be significantly outspent on the airwaves throughout the general election, but the officials downplayed the impact of television ads in the fall, saying that media coverage and campaign organization was much more impactful.
"I think it's clear the other side's going to have more resources on television," an official said. "I think what's also clear we are going to spend equal to or more than we spent last time and be able to get our message out in ways that will make us comfortable in our ability to communicate the message."
Pointing to an organizational presence in key battleground states that in many cases dates back to before 2008, the officials said this gives the Obama campaign an advantage in the all-important persuasion and turnout facets of a national campaign. Turnout includes encouraging people to vote early or by mail, and the officials cited 2008 numbers to show that a majority of votes were cast this way in Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Colorado - states both sides are hoping to win in November.
Criticism of Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential pick was also on full display as the Obama campaign official tied him to embattled Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin, casting Ryan as Akin's "ideological twin."
"They can run away from Akin but it's very hard to run away from that position," the official said referencing "women's issues." "They are the most radical ticket on these issues, not just women's health, but also on pay equity, things that are fundamental to women in this country."
Ryan has helped the Romney campaign in Wisconsin, the officials acknowledged, while also reminding reporters "Democrats have carried Wisconsin five consecutive presidential elections."
"Let's get a couple of weeks down past the Ryan pick, past the conventions before we see where Wisconsin is in this whole thing," one official said. "I continue to believe that Governor Romney's record on the auto rescue, on outsourcing, on manufacturing is going to be problematic for him across the Midwest and you'll see that in Wisconsin as well."

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