Yellowdogtexan
04-25-2008, 05:41 PM
One of the big success stories in the 2006 elections was DNC Chairman Howard Dean's 50 state strategy that helped the Democrats regain control of both the House and the Senate. Obama is looking towards the general election already with a 50 state voter registration drive that builds on and works with the DNC 50 state strategy. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/25/obama_plans_may_general_electi.htmlPivoting to general election mode, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced a 50-state voter registration drive that will kick off four days after the May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana.
"Vote for Change" will summon the volunteer army that Obama has amassed in the 47 states and territories that have already held primaries or caucuses this year, along with the nine yet to come. Deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand described the effort as a "sustained 6-month campaign" aimed at driving up turnout for all Democratic candidates in November.
Obama's campaign has waged aggressive turnout drives in individual states, including Pennsylvania, where nearly 230,000 Democrats registered before the April 22 primary, most of them Obama supporters. New registrations have hit 165,000 in North Carolina and topped 150,000 in Indiana -- and unlike in Pennsylvania, both of those May 6 states open the primaries to unaffiliated voters (and Republicans too in Indiana), meaning they don't have to register as Democrats to participate.
The program's other aim is to signal to Democratic leaders, and in particular uncommitted superdelegates, that Obama is the stronger general-election candidate. His 50-state strategy may have cost him votes in big states like California, Hildebrand and others have long argued, but the result of having campaigned everywhere is a nationwide grassroots organization, unlike any ever created by a presidential candidate.
Hildebrand cited Wyoming as an example. The March 8 caucus state got little attention from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and it's a long shot as a Democratic pick up in the presidential election. But Obama, who beat Clinton in Wyoming easily, built a volunteer team there that can now be dispatched to aid Gary Trauner, who lost a 2006 race for the state's at-large House seat by 1,000 votes. Trauner has a better shot this year: the GOP incumbent who beat him, Rep. Barbara Cubin, is retiring. "We're looking for opportunities beyond the presidential campaign," Hildebrand said.
This plan will indeed help the party. Senator Obama is correct in acting like he will be the nominee because there is no way for Clinton to overcome his lead. As such, it is important for Senator Obama to plan for the general election including doing voter registration drives that will help other Democratic candidate.
"Vote for Change" will summon the volunteer army that Obama has amassed in the 47 states and territories that have already held primaries or caucuses this year, along with the nine yet to come. Deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand described the effort as a "sustained 6-month campaign" aimed at driving up turnout for all Democratic candidates in November.
Obama's campaign has waged aggressive turnout drives in individual states, including Pennsylvania, where nearly 230,000 Democrats registered before the April 22 primary, most of them Obama supporters. New registrations have hit 165,000 in North Carolina and topped 150,000 in Indiana -- and unlike in Pennsylvania, both of those May 6 states open the primaries to unaffiliated voters (and Republicans too in Indiana), meaning they don't have to register as Democrats to participate.
The program's other aim is to signal to Democratic leaders, and in particular uncommitted superdelegates, that Obama is the stronger general-election candidate. His 50-state strategy may have cost him votes in big states like California, Hildebrand and others have long argued, but the result of having campaigned everywhere is a nationwide grassroots organization, unlike any ever created by a presidential candidate.
Hildebrand cited Wyoming as an example. The March 8 caucus state got little attention from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and it's a long shot as a Democratic pick up in the presidential election. But Obama, who beat Clinton in Wyoming easily, built a volunteer team there that can now be dispatched to aid Gary Trauner, who lost a 2006 race for the state's at-large House seat by 1,000 votes. Trauner has a better shot this year: the GOP incumbent who beat him, Rep. Barbara Cubin, is retiring. "We're looking for opportunities beyond the presidential campaign," Hildebrand said.
This plan will indeed help the party. Senator Obama is correct in acting like he will be the nominee because there is no way for Clinton to overcome his lead. As such, it is important for Senator Obama to plan for the general election including doing voter registration drives that will help other Democratic candidate.