Obama Campaigns for Delegates In Smaller States: Strategy Could Be Risky for National Contest

[DeepModem Mom]

WSJ: Obama Campaigns for Delegates In Smaller States
Strategy Could Be Risky For National Contest; 13,000 Rally in Boise
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER
February 4, 2008

The campaign crazy quilt that makes up presidential candidate Barack Obama's 10-day sprint leading up to tomorrow's Super Tuesday contest includes some of the tiniest states at stake in the election. It is something the senator from Illinois acknowledges from time to time. "So they told me there weren't any Democrats in Idaho," Mr. Obama said at a weekend rally in Boise, which drew about 13,000 people. "That's what they told me. But I didn't believe them." Perhaps he should. Idaho offers up a paltry 23 delegates in tomorrow's nominating tilt, while four states -- California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey -- make up 60% of the nearly 1,700 delegates on offer. With time running short, why would Mr. Obama be campaigning in Idaho?

The answer is linked to the campaign's recurring strategy of combining intense ground organizing efforts with spirited rallies and pointed television advertising. While that gambit paid off in early states, it is a risky strategy for what will essentially be a national political contest....If he sticks to his schedule, by tomorrow Mr. Obama will have hit Delaware, which has 23 delegates, staged two rallies in 38-delegate New Mexico and spent a precious afternoon courting voters in Kansas, which will send 40 delegates to the nominating convention. Meantime, he will have made one stop in delegate-rich New Jersey and will have bypassed New York, Mrs. Clinton's home state, where 280 delegates are in play.

At the organizing level, Mr. Obama's ground game in many respects mirrors his hustings tour. He has a campaign office in Alaska, holder of 18 delegates. He has seven offices open in Colorado and five in the sparsely populated state of Idaho. What the three states have in common: They are among the seven that will be holding caucus contests tomorrow, which are in general lightly attended by voters and often won by the best-organized campaigns. Officials with the Obama camp believe that the Boise rally, which drew about three times as many participants as took part in the 2004 caucus, could be enough to give the Illinois senator a landslide victory....

The no-delegate-left-behind strategy carries a more subtle advantage as well: Many of the smaller states Mr. Obama is concentrating on are also among the union's most conservative. Idaho, for instance, hasn't elected a Democrat to a statewide office in more than a decade. And though tomorrow's nominating contest pits Democrat against Democrat, Mr. Hildebrand says local leaders "would rather see" Mr. Obama heading the ticket than the former first lady....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120208396870439135.html

[debatepro]

1. 50 state strategy = filibuster proof majorities.

We can fight in every state in every district with obama!... I'd rather be playing on every field!!!!!!!!!!

[HeraldSquare212]

2. I think it's outstanding that he's campaigning everywhere

It makes everyone feel part of the nominating process, it brings people into the political process, it helps in November up and down the ticket. That's how you build a winning campaign for yourself and for your party.