David Plouffe on which states will be the battlegrounds [View All]

[madfloridian]

Interesting blog post I just ran across. About the targeted states and which ones are dispensable this time. Big changes.

The coming battleground states

I'm on my way home from a fundraiser with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe at the Capitol City Brewery, site of some of my most memorable political inebriation. (Among other things, it was there that I celebrated the 2006 Democratic victory with my old boss Howard Dean.)

Plouffe mostly talked about which states will be decisive for the
November election. He started off by saying that Michigan, New
Hampshire, and Pennsylvania will be the key battlegrounds. Then he
mentioned a long list of others, in no particular order, New Mexico,
Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa,
Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi. Louisiana, and of
course Florida and Ohio. He said he's happy that he can look at the
map and see 12 ways Obama can win, even without considering Ohio and
Florida. He confirmed what I'd heard informally from the campaign:
Obama will use his money, his broad appeal, and his superior ground
organization to force McCain to spread himself thin and campaign in
states that the Republican nominee would usually take for granted.

Posted by donpedro at 5:19 PM

I like that idea of making the Republicans spread themselves very thin. That was an aspect of the 50 State plan. Dean said he wanted to force Republicans to spend money on safe races.

I think they are wise not to depend too much on Florida right now. I was reading more about the delegate situation today with the JJ Dinner coming up on Saturday. There are still some causing dissension and not willing to just let things settle.

Dems delegate fight turns ugly

Jon Ausman who petitioned the DNC for the settlement, who endorsed Clinton the night before Obama became the nominee...has been sharing some very personal emails with the media. He should be ashamed of himself.

So much for party unity: As Florida Dems prepare for Saturday's Jefferson-Jackson dinner aimed at bringing the party "together once and for all," a spat over the Obama campaign's decision to replace some already-designated Florida delegates with Obama backers has intensified.

And how. DNC member Jon Ausman late Thursday e-mailed Dems (and reporters) choice sections of what he says were e-mails from Obama's Florida finance chair Kirk Wagar -- in which Wagar curses Ausman out and criticizes Sen. Bill Nelson and party director Leonard Joseph.

The highlights: "You (Jon Ausman) f&^%ed us. We are dealing with it. You need to accept the fact that you f*&^ed us."

And of Nelson: "I am getting very sick of (Senator) Nelson making a bad situation worse."

Said Ausman to Wagar: "We are at a point in time when we need to heal and come together. Help me understand how these messages, which you have sent to me in writing, help Senator Obama's campaign."

Wagar sent out an e-mail shortly after, apologizing for the profanity, but suggesting Ausman had used "out of context snippets from some ongoing and sometimes heated arguments we have had over the course of this campaign.

Ausman won't let things heal. Wagar and the Obama campaign should scrutinize thoroughly every single delegate in this state. The state was asked to wait to pick them until the DNC decision but they refused. Jon has no business taking this stuff so public.

So they are wise not to depend on Florida that much. And after hearing the TN Democrats who think Obama might be tied to terrorists....I am glad I don't see them listed either.