It may be storming up the Eastern seaboard, but the sun is shining brightly in Chicago.
Those were the sentiments expressed on Monday morning from the top Obama campaign officials regarding where they stand in the battleground states eight days before Election Day.
"We're winning this race, and I say that not on the basis of some mystical faith in a wave that's going to come, or some hidden vote," senior strategist David Axelrod told reporters on a conference call. "We base it on cold, hard data based on who's voted so far and state-by-state polling."
There are both national and state-by-state polls that show the presidential race as being extremely close, and undoubtedly both the Obama and Romney camps are talking tough eight days out.
Both Axelrod and Obama For America campaign manager Jim Messina were angry with the commentary coming from the pro-Romney forces — Axelrod called it "faux-bullishness," but we can expect it to continue throughout the next week.
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2012.