Quote:
Obama, facing likely defeat, will skip visiting Kentucky
By Ryan Alessi | Lexington Herald-Leader

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, facing a likely defeat in next Tuesday's primary election, won't travel to Kentucky before the voting, but said he hopes to have much more time to win over Kentucky voters before the November general election.

"When we're able to campaign in a place like Iowa for several months and I can visit and talk to people individually, I do very well. That's harder to do at this stage in the campaign," Obama said in a brief telephone interview Friday. "And once we get past the primary, we'll ble to focus more on those states where we need to make sure people know my track record."

In contrast, Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, will make five stops in Kentucky over the weekend, including stops at two university campuses.

Obama said he'd hoped to spend a bit more time in Kentucky earlier this week, but was called back to Washington, D.C., for votes.

"We're having to campaign in a lot of different places," he said. "Obviously we think Kentucky is important. People in Kentucky are concerned about the same things people are concerned about all across the country — declining wages and incomes and everything from gas to health care."

But he conceded that he has a steep challenge to get his message and background to voters in states such as Kentucky — where he trails Sen. Hillary Clinton by 27 points, according to a poll published earlier this week — and West Virginia, where voters chose Clinton over Obama by 40 points on Tuesday.

"What it says is that I'm not very well known in that part of the country," Obama said. "Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it's not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle."

But he said he and Clinton match up similarly against Republican nominee John McCain. Both trailed McCain by double digits in the poll, which was conducted for the Lexignton Herald-Leader and WKYT television. McCain leads Clinton by 12 points and Obama by 25 points.

"I think whoever the Democratic is we're going to have some work to do in a state like Kentucky," Obama said


Short version is Obama won't be spending anytime in Kentucky because it will highlight his weakness once again with certain voters that in my opinion make him toast in a general election. The bullshit this man can spew & get away with is impressive! I don't mean that as a slam either since it's part & parcel of being a politician. It just sucks that there are legitimate questions about how well he can do in a general & his way of dealling with it seems to be to not contest the hard states or take his name of a ballot if he can.

Fair play!