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June 10, 2008

Obama's 50 state strategy

Rick Moran
Barack Obama's campaign has announced they will put campaign staff in all 50 states - the first time that has happened in a generation:

He said the campaign is seeking 30,000 new donors to make $25 contributions which will be matched today by a previous donor.

Hildebrand acknowledged that "some states will be more competitive than others, and we will scale our resources accordingly."

But he said "unprecedented grassroots energy during the primary means that the list of competitive states will be longer than ever before -- and it will include states like Virginia and Montana that aren't traditionally within reach for a Democratic presidential candidate." He also said that "in every single state, our staff will build volunteer capacity that will provide help where we need it and impact races up and down the ballot this November."

This news comes hot on the heels of an estimate by Alexander Bolton of The Hill that Obama could raise $100 million in June alone:

Leading Democratic fundraisers predict that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will raise hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few months if he opts out of public financing and begins raising money for the general election.

Specifically, they say Obama could raise $100 million in June and could attract 2.5 million to 3 million new donors to his campaign.
 
Obama will not win 50 states but he will force McCain to defend some states that would ordinarily be safe. This will leave less money for true battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan not to mention not allowing him to exploit other weaknesses that Obama might have.

I believe McCain's only hope as far as fundraising is concerned is to eschew public financing and start raising big bucks himself. It's pretty clear that the $85 million McCain would get from the government to run his campaign won't be near enough.

Then again, there may be a backlash by the American people against anyone raising that kind of money. The voter doesn't like the idea that an election can be bought and they might just look a little funny at a guy who might raise a half a billion to get elected president.


Posted at 10:29 AM | Email | | | Share Share
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