McCain Campaign to Focus on Setting up Post Election Whining Strategy?

Recent reports indicate that the McCain campaign is giving up on states like Iowa, Michigan and Colorado and starting to look at Pennsylvania as the key to winning the Electoral College. But he’s further behind there than in states he’s abandoning, so what gives?

I think DDay nails it:

I'm just not seeing what makes Pennsylvania the firewall state, other than process of elimination. But perhaps it's this:

The state Republican Party filed an injunction Friday against Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes and ACORN, alleging a fair vote on Nov. 4 is impossible because of rampant voter fraud.

The injunction signals a step up in action against ACORN, which for weeks has been the recipient of attacks from the state GOP and John McCain's presidential campaign.

At a press conference in the Capitol, state GOP Chairman Bob Gleason Jr. said the sheer number of registrations submitted by ACORN has overwhelmed many county election offices and the state department has not provided the local bureaus with enough support.

"I am not confident we can trust the results of this election," Gleason said.

We all know this is absurd, completely absurd. But maybe it's the last thing McCain can cling to. Consider that:

• Pennsylvania does not have early voting, and absentee voting is restricted.
• Unlike Minnesota and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania doesn't have same-day registration.

So voting is concentrated on Election Day, and the state GOP is trying to make the election illegitimate.

McCain knows he's going to lose, so he just wants to have an excuse that he can cling to – like voter fraud in Pennsylvania - in order to rationalize the loss and maintain his bloated opinion of himself!

The party also knows McCain is going to lose, but they want a hook – like voter fraud in Pennsylvania - with which to try to undermine Obama's legitimacy over the next four eight years.

The problem with this strategy is that if the GOP continues to be seen as obstructionist during an Obama presidency where he has an overwhelming mandate from voters all across the country and the oratory skills to inspire them to act, the GOP is going to get pounded again in 2010, and again in 2012.

Obama is willing to reach across the aisle and respect conservatives by giving them a seat at the table. But by the 2014 midterms, if they are still trying to hound the Obamas the way they hounded the Clintons (however few of them may be left), we’ll be talking about voter imposed extinction for the GOP!

(Note: Image above is from the notorious "Brooks Brothers Riot," with numbered participants identified as GOP staffers whining about shutting down the counting of Florida votes in the 2000 election.)