CHICAGO: While Republican presidential candidates target early-voting states, President Barack Obama’s team is laying the groundwork for a 50-state campaign strategy it hopes will secure another White House win in 2012.
From the traditional ”swing” states of Florida and Ohio to a typically Republican-leaning states like Arizona and Georgia, Democrat Obama’s political supporters are opening offices, engaging voters and rallying volunteers to create a nationwide network, even in areas unfriendly to their candidate’s cause.
The strategy is similar to Obama’s successful 2008 campaign, but it is still unorthodox.
To win the White House, traditional presidential campaigns focus their attention on a handful of states that typically swing between Republican and Democratic candidates, working to earn at least 270 of the states’ 538 ”electoral votes” that determine the ultimate winner.
”People in Washington like to second guess us on this and say, ‘you ought to go back to (focusing on) the 15 or 20 states and why do you have a Idaho state director and why do you have a Utah state director?”’ said Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, referring to Republican western strongholds.
”The fact is, we have supporters there who want to get involved in the campaign, and they ought to be able to get involved,” he said in an interview in his Chicago office.
The campaign needs nationwide involvement.
As high unemployment hurts Obama’s chances in Ohio and other states that helped propel him to victory in 2008, having avenues of support in non-traditional Democratic patches could be the only way to victory.
”His campaign has to do something to fundamentally change the electoral landscape, and broadening the map is probably the only option out of a bunch of bad ones,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and former adviser to one-time presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty. (UNI)
Fundraising helps. The Obama campaign has outraised all the president’s potential Republican opponents and is expected to top its 2008 total of 750 million dollars in campaign cash, giving it flexibility to spend even in states that are a reach.
And though he may defend areas that should be in his corner, establishing operations all over the country will force Republicans to spend money in states they should own, too.
”It’s almost certain that Obama and the Democrats will outspend the Republican candidate. We’ll have enough to be competitive in the swing states,” Conant said.
Obama leads potential rivals Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, in most polls, but the margins are tight and the election is still more than a year away. Republican New Jersey Governor will decide within days whether to launch a late run.
A lot can change. Which means another part of Obama’s campaign strategy now is to build momentum. (Reuters)