CNN: McCain advisers give up on Colorado

October 20, 2008 - 19:01

CNN: McCain advisers give up on Colorado

By Jeremy Pelzer, PolitickerCO.com Reporter

Republican presidential nominee John McCain campaign advisers told CNN Monday that McCain's chances are looking increasingly bleak in Colorado.

"Gone," one McCain adviser said of the campaign's chances in Colorado, Iowa and New Mexico.

"It's not true," McCain spokesman Tom Kise responded to PolitickerCO.com. "I don't know what the hell they're talking about."

"We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's national communications director, in a statement. "We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win."

The unnamed McCain adviser told CNN that while presidential polls remain close in Colorado, most in the McCain campaign believed Democratic opponent Barack Obama had a far superior ground operation in the state. Obama has 51 field offices in Colorado; McCain has 12.

However, McCain manager Rick Davis dissents from this opinion. McCain's strategy depends on holding Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Nevada - as well as Virginia, CNN reported.

Jeremy Pelzer is a PolitickerCO.com Reporter and can be reached via email at noreply@politicker.com.