From the Obama campaign memo on WV and the state of the campaign:

MYTH 1: The Primary has left Democrats divided.
FACT: Democrats are united behind Barack Obama, even more so than Republicans are united behind McCain

• May 12 Washington Post poll shows that Obama wins 81% of Democrats in a matchup against John McCain.
• Indeed, more Republicans crossover to vote for Obama (15%) than do Democrats for McCain (13%).
  • NOTE: In 1996, Bill Clinton won 84% of Democrats.

MYTH 2: The Primary campaign has hurt Obama with swing voters and Republicans:
FACT: Obama is winning the swing voters against McCain by a wide margin.

• Obama holds a 51-42 lead among Independents in the Washington Post poll.
  • NOTE: Clinton loses 46-49 to McCain among Independents.
• Not since 1988, when George Bush beat Michael Dukakis 57-43 among Independents, has a candidate won such a large margin among swing voters.
  • In his two victories, Clinton only managed a 6-point margin over the Republican among independents in 1992 and an 8-point margin in 1996.
  • Indeed, no Democrat has won a majority of Independent voters since exit polls were first conducted in 1976.  

MYTH 3: Obama cannot perform strongly enough among white voters:
FACT: Obama’s is running as well or better than past Democratic Candidates among white voters.

• LA Times (May 8) - Obama 41 / McCain 45
• Wash Post (May 13) - Obama 42 / McCain 51
• 2004 Exit polls - Kerry 41 / Bush 58
• 2000 Exit Polls - Gore 43 / Bush 54
• 1996 Exit polls - Clinton 43 / Dole 46
• 1992 Exit polls - Clinton 39 / Bush 41 / Perot 20

MYTH 4: The race against Clinton has compromised Obama’s position among women:
FACT: Obama has begun attracting the support of a broad coalition of women and is poised to win historic margins.

• Wash Post (May 13) - Obama 54 / McCain 40
• New York Times (May 3) - Obama 47 / McCain 39
• NOTE: No Democratic candidate has won women by so large a margin since exit polling was first conducted in 1976. The closest any candidate has come was in 2000, when Al Gore won women 54-43 over George Bush

MYTH 5: Obama cannot win working class voters:
FACT: Obama is already winning working class voters

• In the recent LA Times poll, Obama wins every income group under $100,000.

• <$40K: 43 / 35 (Obama +8)
• $40K-$59K: 43 / 40 (Obama +3)
• $60K-$100K: 51 / 42 (Obama +9)
• $101K+: 46 / 47 (McCain +1)

• According to the Washington Post/ABC poll released today, despite Sen. Clinton’s insistence that she is stronger among white, working-class voters the data shows that Sen. Obama performs nearly as well as she does in the general election. Among white, non-college voters in this poll:

• Obama vs. McCain is 40-52
• Clinton vs. McCain is 44-52