Obama says McCain's aping of his change' call maybe his undoing

Washington, Sept.10 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is now making the pitch that his Republican rival John McCain has miscalculated by focusing the discussions on who can do more to change Washington.

During a brief news conference in Ohio, Obama dismissed the polls and said the real significance is that the Republicans have decided to challenge him on his own turf.

"What's changed is that the Republican Party, which had been trying to make an argument about experience, basically got off that and came to our field. And they realize that this is going to be a change election. . . . I believe that I can make a very persuasive case that Joe Biden and Barack Obama are better equipped to bring about change than the other ticket."

Obama's chief political strategist, David Axelrod, said: "Campaigns are a series of strategic and tactical challenges. The fundamentals are still the same. This race will settle in down the road a little bit."

Campaign manager David Plouffe said that the race is "exactly where we thought it would be," that it will remain close nationally and that the outcome will be decided by a handful of battleground states that are likely to remain highly competitive until Election Day.

According to the Washington Post, the Obama campaign remains a lean and highly focused operation.

Following the Republican announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be the party's vice-presidential running mate, Obama has essentially stuck to economic themes while campaigning across the Rust Belt.

He has repeatedly sought to portray McCain as an out-of-touch Washington insider and mentioned Palin only in passing.

Obama "needs to make clear again to people why they had deep concerns about John McCain," said a Democratic strategist who declined to be identified.

Another strategist, was quoted as saying that the Obama-Biden ticket needs to show the real differences between Obama and McCain.

ANI