Elections

Biden downplays expectations: ‘This race is going to be neck and neck’

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President Barack Obama’s top surrogate is already downplaying expectations.

In an email to supporters Wednesday to announce a weekend voter registration effort in Washington, D.C., Vice President Joe Biden explained that the race is going to be extremely close.

“No matter what you’re thinking, or what the polls say, this race is going to be neck and neck,” he wrote. “In a lot of states, the margin of victory or defeat could be just a handful of votes. It’s a numbers game.”

In late March, Biden expressed confidence in his and the president’s prospects against any of the Republican candidates.

“I don’t think we’ll be beaten by those candidates,” Biden said. “I think we’ll be beaten — if we are — by something happening in the Eurozone, or something happening in the Gulf, which could be difficult for us, or this barrage of Super PAC money. But even with that, I feel good.”

Since then the field has essentially been whittled down to the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

The most recent Real Clear Politics average currently has Obama polling four percentage points above Romney — 47.7 percent to 43.7 percent.

Biden’s email to supporters explains that the coming weekend voter registration effort in D.C. will be “massive.”

“It’s going to be bigger than any we’ve had so far — and Barack and I need you out there,” he wrote.

To be sure the email is meant to mobilize supporters — according to Biden “We can’t wait on this one,” but “Together, we’ll win this thing.”

After the 2010 midterm election, some speculated that Obama could raise a whopping $1 billion for election. The campaign has since downplayed those expectations.

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