Ten reasons why Team Obama is optimistic about winning next year

2) The GOP primary calendar could stretch well into 2012. That would force the Republican challengers to champion for months conservative positions that will undercut a GOP pivot to the general election contest. “Think about it this way: In May or June a full third of the delegates are still at stake,” Messina said. “You could see this thing going way deep, unless someone runs out of momentum or money, and given the super PACS on both sides, it’s unlikely they’re going to run out of money.” Axelrod added, “The longer this race goes the more you’re going to see these Republican candidates mortgage their general election campaign to try to win the nomination.”…

7) Obama’s campaign team has been building a ground force for the general election while GOP candidates are focused on the primaries. The Republican campaigns, Messina said, “have just decided not to do the kind of grass-roots organizing we’re doing.” The GOP challengers are wooing voters using debates and media outreach, he added. “I think we have more staffers on the ground in Iowa than any of the other campaigns do right now,” he continued, noting that the president, unlike his challengers, has infrastructure in place “in all the key states.” That head start will pay dividends during the general election contest, Messina predicted…

10) Obama’s campaign, as in 2008, believes the president will have enough money, and enough cutting-edge technology to outpace challengers. Messina declined to identify the fourth-quarter fundraising goal the campaign is trying to reach or exceed by Dec. 31. In the third quarter, the Obama team raised more than $70 million — $42.8 million for the president’s campaign committee and another $27.3 million for the Democratic National Committee — topping the $55 million goal set by Obama’s Chicago team. Messina said over 45 percent of Obama’s donors are new in this cycle, which the campaign believes is evidence of “real health in our donor base” and a sign of successful new engagement. He said the campaign will again make use of “cutting-edge tools” and new adaptations of existing technology to win re-election.