RNC Chief Priebus: Obama Will Lose Pa. in 2012

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus flat-out guarantees that President Barack Obama will lose Pennsylvania in the 2012 election. Priebus made the remark in a conference call about GOP commercials running in the state, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

"I can guarantee that he will not win [Pennsylvania] this time," Priebus said.

Priebus made the remark even though Obama won Pennsylvania in 2008 by a margin of 54.7 percent to 44.3 and the fact that no Republican has won the state since 1988. The GOP candidate would beat Obama because the president's performance has been "abysmal," the paper quotes him as saying.

Villanova University political science professor Lara Brown said the GOP is making a smart move in running commercials in early battleground states. In addition to Pennsylvania, the commercials are running in Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire, the Tribune-Review reported.

One of the commercials, a 60-second spot titled “Change Direction,” contrasts parts of Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention with the unemployment rate and the national debt.

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Priebus also noted that the crowded GOP field could get even larger because it's not too late for more candidates to jump into the race. "I would expect, though, by Labor Day, the field will be set, and we'll be off to the races," the paper quotes Priebus as saying.