Notes from the Swamp: Regional McCain Manager Denies Obama's Citizenship

For Halloween I stopped by the John McCain office in Pompano Beach, Florida, with Josh Bearman from the LA Weekly and Benjy Sarlin from the Daily Beast. There was a security guard at the door but he didn't seem to be doing much. We asked a woman at the front desk about the McCain rally in Miami earlier this week where two Obama supporters were attacked. She said, "There were a lot of hispanics there and it was good to hear them sing the Star Spangled Banner."

Then we spoke with Tim McClellan, Broward NE Regional Manager. We asked about Governor Charlie Crist extending the early voting. It's estimated that 40% of Florida votes will be cast early. "We expect to lose in early voting," he said. "That has been the plan." He was mixed on Crist's decision. "I can't say we're thrilled about it. But the decision had to be made. We want everybody to vote."

He blamed the mainstream media for Obama's lead in the polls. "The mainstream media is very liberal." We asked about Fox News. "Fox is mainstream media but they're a lot more fair than other stations." He also talked about Obama's fundraising advantage. "You can't buy the presidency." We asked if the government should finance the elections. He didn't think that was a good idea either. "You can raise money but when you allow too much money to be raised, that's a problem. (Obama) raised 200 million last month and a lot of that money came from overseas."