Phoenix — John McCain has easily won every political race he has run in Arizona, so it is not surprising that Republicans and Democrats alike assumed the senator would hold his own state in the presidential contest.
But that was before the economy tanked and foreclosure signs sprouted like saguaro in the desert. It was before the registration of Democrats and independents outpaced Republicans; before presidential polls showed a shrinking, single-digit advantage for McCain over Barack Obama, his Democratic rival.
Suddenly, both sides are throwing resources at Arizona. Voters began receiving automated phone calls this week from the Republican camp warning that Obama's election would invite a "major international crisis he will be unprepared to handle," and that Democrats in full control of government would "give civil rights to terrorists."
On Friday, the Obama campaign announced it would run an upbeat spot in the last four days of the race touting the Illinois senator's endorsements by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and economic giant Warren Buffett. Move On.org will run its own ads showing McCain struggling to hold on to his state.
Arizona's crimson has turned purple on several electoral maps, and some political analysts have moved it from the McCain column to "leaning McCain." Some polls suggest the state is up for grabs.
"It's a lot closer than we'd like it to be," said Mike Hellon, co-chairman of McCain's Arizona campaign, who nonetheless predicted that "John McCain is going to carry Arizona."
The McCain campaign, confident it would win Arizona, used its phone banks to call voters in hotly contested Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, and sent busloads of volunteers there. Wes Gullett, another top McCain campaign official, said the state diverted $10 million for use in more competitive states.
"I think we'll be fine. I wouldn't want them to spend here; they have bigger fish to fry," Gullet said. "People in Arizona know John McCain."
Obama hasn't campaigned in Arizona since the primaries, though he and other leading Democrats have made many stops in neighboring states.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, said Democratic turnout in early voting suggested his candidate was doing well, particularly among Latino voters and in the suburbs of Phoenix.
It is "a very, very close race," Plouffe told reporters in a conference call.
