Thursday, February 14, 2008

Obama lands his "A-Team" in Ohio

Beverly Davis writes for the Huffington Post:

Behind the scenes of the Obama-Clinton race to capture Ohio's 161 delegates, the biggest jackpot of states still in contention, it will be a killer match between each campaign's point man: Paul Tewes and Robby Mook.

Among campaign professionals,Tewes is widely regarded among the very most talented of political organizers in the nation - he's largely responsible for Obama's surprise win in Iowa, which proved that the "inevitable" nomination of Hillary Clinton wasn't so inevitable and that white voters, independents, and women could be lured to Obama.

...

Obama's Ohio state director, Tewes, just needs to keep it close enough for Obama to earn his proportional share of Ohio's delegates rich primary, which will be a battle that looks possible - even more than possible. Obama has a slim shot at an Ohio victory as of this moment, but as long as he just shows well (no less than 10-15 points behind Clinton in strategic areas), he stands to maintain his lead over delegates-won as long as he continues to outpace Clinton in the momentum game and grabs his expected smaller share of the Texas and Pennsylvania delegates on March 4.

Both campaigns are literally racing to get their respective Ohio teams onto the field. However, Obama's campaign looks to be outpacing the Clinton machine - at least, this week.

While Chelsea Clinton stumps for her mother in Ohio today (to decidedly mixed reviews), Obama is flying in his popular wife, Michelle, to campaign tomorrow. Senator Clinton is also winging toward Ohio.

The most disturbing number for the Clinton camp is the rising trend in Obama's momentum. He's gained a 20-point bump from Quinniapac's December 5th poll, which calculated Clinton with a 26 point lead over Obama. But his recent eight-state victory streak combined with Clinton's big margin losses, financial problems, and campaign shake-ups has helped Obama cut Clinton's Ohio lead nearly in half.


(Full Article)

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