Barack Obama and his campaign officials are coming under fire from Democratic lawmakers and strategists saying he has ignored advice and is in denial, saying "These guys are on the verge of blowing the greatest gimme in the history of American politics."
The Telegraph reports that Democrats, Senators, Governors and strategists believe Barack Obama is not only ignoring these polls but is in "denial" about what they call the "Bradley effect" which is the belief that Obama is actually lower than the polls show due to respondents of the polls not acknowledging racism.
Democratic "party elders" believe the Obama's true polling numbers are four to six points lower than the published polls show because of hidden racism from voters.
Party leaders and commentators say that the Democrat candidate spent too much of the summer enjoying his own popularity and not enough defining his positions on the economy - the number one issue for voters - or reaching out to those blue collar workers whose votes he needs if he is to beat Mr McCain.
Senators and Governors have been trying to reach the Obama campaign to give them advice and according to a Democratic strategist that spoke to The Sunday Telegraph, the campaign has ignored the calls as the strategist goes on to say, "They think they know best. They don't return calls. There are governors and senators calling them up with ideas. They don't get back to them.
"These are senior people from the border states and the South who know how to beat Republicans, and they're being ignored. They ignored everyone during the primaries and they came through it, so they think they can do the same again."
It is reported that Obama's inner circle has a "bunker mentality" and outside advice is not welcome, even from highly experienced politicians.
Other Democrats are openly mocking of Mr Obama's much vaunted "50-state strategy", in which he spends money campaigning throughout the US in the hope that it will force Mr McCain to divert funds to previously safe states. Critics say a utopian belief in bringing the nation together has trumped the cold electoral calculus that is necessary to triumph in November.
Doug Schoen, a former pollster for Bill Clinton, last week declared it insanity not to concentrate resources on the swing states.
A prominent Democratic strategist that has played roles in two presidential campaigns asserts, "These guys are on the verge of blowing the greatest gimme in the history of American politics. They're the most arrogant bunch Ive ever seen. They won't accept that they are losing and they won't listen."
Criticism doesn't stop at Obama's campaign ignoring advice from Democratic lawmakers, as evidenced by a Democratic National Committee official telling The Telegraph they find it "offensive when Democrats ask the Republicans not to be nasty to us, which is effectively what Obama keeps doing. They know thats how the game is played."
According to the article it is also believed that Barack Obama and his campaign advisers are ignoring the "broad appeal" that Sarah Palin has brought into the campaign race where some polling organizations are showing the enthusiasm gap which Obama enjoyed until Palin came onto the scene, all but gone now. The latest Rasmussen report has gone as far as to claim the McCain/Palin ticket now has more excited voters than the Obama/Biden ticket does with 52.4 percent to Obama's 46.4 percent.
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