Obama Lowers Expectations

Howard Kurtz argues that the "poll-driven press" has gone out on a limb in predicting an Obama lanslide, yet "polls change, as many journalists were reminded when they wrongly predicted that Obama would beat Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary."

Perhaps Obama's being careful about not getting caught up on the landslide euphoria, as this piece from The Hill indicates:

Barack Obama, coming off a weekend where he shattered the single month fundraising record and received the endorsement of retired Gen. Colin Powell, said Monday he expects the race for the White House to tighten.

The Democratic presidential nominee said on NBC’s “Today Show” that there is “no doubt” that Republican rival Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has a path to victory, despite the Illinois senator's leads in many battleground states and in national polls.

“We think that the race will tighten, just because that’s what happens at the end of campaigns. They always have,” Obama said, adding, “And in each of these battleground states, you’ve got a lot of close races. One of the messages that I’ve had to my team is that we don’t let up. We do not let up.”

Obama noted that “every time we’ve gotten in trouble in this campaign, it’s because we started trying to play ball-control offense.”

Obama's lowering expectations a bit (after Democratic insiders predicted an Obama landslide last week).

It's a good thing, too, as a number of media outlets have noted that the race is tightening and McCain's closing the gap in some polls.