Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod is confident that the president’s reelection chances aren’t in danger in Michigan, Minnesota or Pennsylvania, despite tightening polls there. And he’s willing to put his money slightly above where his mouth is.
When pressed by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Wednesday morning about the slimmer margins in these states, where Obama once led comfortably, Axelrod said he would shave his mustache live on “Morning Joe” if President Obama lost any of the three.
“I will come on ‘Morning Joe,’ and I will shave off my mustache of 40 years if we lose any of those three states,” Axelrod said
Scarborough reciprocated, promising to grow a mustache of his own if Obama wins Florida or North Carolina.
“In any one of those states, Governor Romney has an excellent shot of winning,” Romney senior strategist Russ Schriefer later told reporters on a conference call. “Can we win all of them? Probably not. But can we win some of them? I think so.”
Update: Axelrod’s wager quickly reached campaign meme status, with the requisite parody Twitter account:
If we lose Minnesota, my mustache will self deport.
— Axelrod’s Mustache(@AxelrodsStache) October 31, 2012
And the Republican Party of Minnesota dedicated a web page — complete with GIF — to the bet, telling volunteers and donors: “Let’s make him shave it.”
Via the Republican Party of Minnesota
See our latest projections for each state on our electoral college map.
