Kos Diary: Barack Obama and the 50 State Strategy

Barack Obama and the 50 State Strategy

by kid oakland

Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 06:42:46 PM PST

It was a blustery and, at times, rainy afternoon here in Berkeley California but that didn't stop Ron, an avuncular and dapper volunteer with an ironing board from working the corner of Ashby and College Avenue.

When I approached Ron he smiled and explained he'd been doing GOTV since he stood up and opposed Ronald Reagan in 1980. Today he was registering voters on the last day to register before the Feb. 5th CA primary. And, as you could tell from the big O attached to his ironing board, Ron was signing up volunteers for Barack Obama.

Ron had a ton of young people registering to vote today and, from what I saw when I put my name on the list, about 50-60 volunteers signed up for Obama. (He'd given out another 100 home made info sheets to others.)

Now, that doesn't tell you anything about who Californians will choose in the polls on February 5th, but that coincidence of young people, new voters, new volunteers and hard core volunteers like Ron tells you a hell of a lot about the campaign of Barack Obama...

I want to say something simple and clear.

There's one campaign that has been distorting and smearing the record of another's since the results of the Iowa caucuses. There's a reason for that.

When everybody pays attention to the lies and distractions, there's no way Hillary Clinton can't win. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton know that, and that why they are distorting everything they can about the record, integrity and campaign of Senator Barack Obama.

The reverse, however, is not necessarily true. When people pay attention to the actual message and candidates...well, there's a strong likelihood, but no certainty, that folks will vote for Barack Obama.

That's why Ron's out on the corner of Ashby and College in the rain registering voters and signing up volunteers for Barack Obama.

::

Take the fake, engineered, and hyped brouhaha about the comments of Senator Obama regarding the legacy of Ronnie Reagan. Do you know what Barack Obama said BEFORE he mentioned Ronald Reagan in that interview? Do you know the real context of his remarks?

It's not surprising that you might not. Senator Clinton and President Clinton and a whole bunch of other people simply don't want you to hear them.

Barack Obama was talking about the 50 State Strategy:



That was based on their read of the fact that, you know what, this is somebody who can reach out to independents and Republicans in a way that doesn't offend people...I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times.

That sounds pretty true to me. Barack Obama did do that. (But hey what do I know, I only spent the entire year of 2006 following local Congressional races and reaching out to local bloggers in all 50 States.)