UPDATE: The Obama campaign announced on October 20 that they are canceling this event so that Obama can visit his grandmother, who is seriously ill.
I was surprised to read in the Des Moines Register tonight that Barack Obama plans to hold a public rally in the Des Moines area this Thursday, October 23.
Frankly, I think he ought to be spending his time in other states, in light of the polling average that has him leading John McCain by 11 points in Iowa. Also, note these statistics from the Register article:
Obama has 120 paid staff working out of 50 offices throughout the state. Meanwhile, McCain has about a quarter the staff and 16 offices.
Obama’s campaign also reports having 6,000 volunteers, including neighborhood-level campaign leaders in roughly 90 percent of Iowa’s more than 1,700 precincts.
I wonder who won last month’s “Iowa Call Challenge” for a chance to meet Obama in person on his next visit.
4 Comments
A stop should help down ballot races
It will excite the base and help with voter turnout, which should help down ballot races.
noneed4thneed Sat 18 Oct 10:26 PM
good point
I wonder if Obama is shifting his travel schedule to try to help specific down-ballot candidates.
Also, he may feel he needs to focus on a landslide, not just a victory, in order to have as large a mandate as possible for the difficult years ahead.
desmoinesdem Sun 19 Oct 5:39 AM
Obama in Iowa
To quote an old song “Paranoia strikes me.” Is there something in their internal polls that the rest don’t see?
dbrog Sun 19 Oct 9:12 PM
I really doubt it
More than ten public polls have now put Obama over 50 in Iowa.
I think noneed4thneed is more likely to be right about their reasons for scheduling this trip.
desmoinesdem Mon 20 Oct 5:45 AM