Obama Camp Prepares To Shell Out Big Bucks For TX Votes

David Axelrod, the Obama Campaign's chief strategist, spoke to a few reporters inside the mammoth Toyota Center just as Barack himself, to a deafening roar from the crowd of 19,000, took the podium shortly after 8:30 PM. "It's a repudiation of the negative campaigning," Axelrod said. He was discussing the win in Wisconsin--the really interesting evening event, not the Houston mega-rally. On the press riser, the talk was numbers. The assumption was that Obama was late to appear, not because he wasn't in the house, but because his advisors and he were backstage huddled over the same numbers. The polls in Wisconsin had closed less than an hour ago. "We won among voters with incomes less than $50,000," Axelrod said. "We won among low income voters, we won women, we won among late deciders." In the end, Axelrod didn't spin Wisconsin women quite right. Hillary Clinton won a greater percentage of their vote, but Barack Obama nearly equaled her.

While Obama himself floats above the fray, giving speeches about hope and change to overflow crowds and hosting roundtable discussions with ordinary folk on various issues--a hybrid of "feeling your pain" and policy wonkery, his campaign team have been engaged in an escalating war of words with their Clinton counterparts. The Obama Campaign itself has begun to make small forays into negativity. Earlier in the day, the campaign held a conference call with Ohio State Representative Tom Letson "to discuss Senator Clinton's visit to the Mahoning Valley." What's she done now? It turns out that she's having second thoughts about NAFTA (nothing new there--she's mentioned them in several debates). Ohio Rep. Letson finds it morally suspect that Hillary Clinton has changed her mind, and the Obama Campaign is giving him an outlet for his ire. A reporter for the Dayton Daily News challenges Letson: "More recently she's said NAFTA hasn't worked as they [Bill Clinton and she] expected it to. What's wrong with that?" Indeed.

So another twenty thousand people have come out to hear Barack Obama. The question is: what will it mean for the Texas Democratic Primary? Since the Houston crowd is about evenly divided between black and white, with only a sprinkling of Hispanics, as well as the other ethnicities that make up Houston, Barack Obama has a lot of work to do here in the next two weeks. But with the Houston rally he has laid down a marker. His campaign is going to spend a whole hell of a lot of green in Texas. A bunch of tightwads (since June I've been keeping a list of their small economies), the Obama folk have been saving their money--for Texas and Ohio, it seems. What they must have spent on the Houston rally, where all the tickets were free, is extraordinary. The Obama Campaign not only rented the Toyota Center but also chose to have the food and drink concessions open (and therefore paid for the staffing). The campaign had to hire extra security, both Toyota Center and outside agency. They paid for the police overtime in directing traffic before and after the event. For once, they hired a good band. Most amazingly, those dark blue "Change We Can Believe In" 16x20 placards that used to cost $2 apiece the campaign gave away--at least 10,000 special Texas edition ones. The campaign passed out 20,000 brochures on voting twice, in both the primary and the caucus. The Obama Campaign has a clever name for this: the Texas Two-Step.

David Axelrod said that the campaign plans to contest every part of Texas. To accomplish that feat in two weeks, Obama will have to call on a lot of surrogates. It will be interesting to see whom he taps. Senator Kennedy will be stumping for him the end of this week in South Texas, Hillary's stronghold.

Barack himself is off to a good start with the Houston speech, responding to recent criticisms that he is all inspiration and no substance. "It's going to take more than big rallies," he says right off, to bring about change in Washington, which "has become a place where good ideas go to die." It's going to take the help of average Americans, as well as "bringing new people into the process." "Good intentions are not enough," Obama admits, recalling the battles he lost, despite good intentions, in the Illinois legislature. "I know how hard it will be," he says.

Wherever Barack Obama may lead us, his supporters, including those in Houston, are ready. A signpost may be the adjuration that got the biggest response of the night. "We will make college affordable for everybody," Obama says. He receives huge applause, as always, for this campaign promise. But then he warns, "you will have to give something back in return, some kind of community service," and the applause is even greater.

Comments

[indc]

"More recently she's said NAFTA hasn't worked as they [Bill Clinton and she] expected it to. What's wrong with that?"

The big thing wrong with that is that these are people who make very bad decisions and then - maybe - realize it later. NAFTA was a knowable bad decision, except for the corporation that it helped who then helped them. We need people leaders with good judgment exercised in the interest of the people of this county, not for private interest and private gain.

She has repeatedly demonstrated extremely poor judgment: health care, Iraq, Kly-Liberman, to name just a few, and currently extremely poor judgment and management of her campaign and campaign finances, she is in debt and holding money back from business who provided her goods and services. This is the experience and day- one leadership she claims to have... it has become a hypocrisy and joke, not to mention a rip off of the business who are waiting for payment.. only under the pressure of a news report did she pay a landlord who rented her space in NH.

And I thought B. Clinton was in the President.. I did not know they made trade agreement decisions together, perhaps we should have been told. Bad judgment, bad decisions, bad ethics.. an offer we can easily refuse.

[Loeb]

These were all terrible decisions. Many were made
by W. Clinton, many by HRC.

It is not correct by a long shot that they did not
know what they were doing or how it would turn
out. When W. Clinton, Larry Rubin and others
pushed NAFTA they sold Wall Street's program and
together with Republican support demolished all
efforts of "Main Street" and of Labor.They
purposefully presented the ideas of "New
Democrats". (See: Jeff Faux, "The Global Class
War" and other works such as Robert Kuttner,
"The Squandering of America").

Kuttner quoted on National Public Radio was too
correct in pointing out the vast difference in
coercing Americans to purchase PRIVATE health
insurance (HRC) and providing the actual care itself(op cit "MEDICARE FOR ALL").

Our goal now is to get HRC's cooperation in
working together with Obama against the GOP
including its conservative mud-slingers in
November as well as on the Hill.

[mrJJ]

Broke the record for first day early primary voting in Tarrant. Early voting ends on the 19th


Year Election Votes on first day of early voting Tarrant
2000 Primary 882
2000 General 12,641
2002 Primary 873
2002 General 6,266
2004 Primary 804
2004 General 17,685
2006 Primary 957
2006 General 7,497

On the first day of early voting in 2004 for the last presidential election, only 804 voters

Feb 19th 2008 Primary First Day -- 10,439 total votes, 7,396 for Democrats and 3,043 for Republicans --

[specultr]

If you understand Spanish, check out this cool pro-Obama Mariachi video for Latinos in Texas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fd-MVU4vtU

Yo soy Obamigo.

[texanna]

So, politics as it has always been played? What happened to that new way stuff? I might have been able to support Sen. Obama after Edwards left the race, but I could never get past the self-righteous nature of his campaign. He presents himself as being better than all that, while he's really no different. You know, being a good politician isn't a bad thing -- unless, of course, you're a woman and presume to try for the top spot.

[jcharliemiller]

Obama is going to win Texas, plain and simple. His honesty, even when he says things they don't like, will play a huge factor. People down there respect people who are honest in the face of adversity.
His plain style, and candor will actually win hearts and minds.
I'm an authority on this, I am a native Texan...

[ObamaEdwards]

Another one of those stodgy naysayers. "Oh, well, he's got a lot to do..." Fuff fuffy fuff fuff...

[foreffectivegovernment]

He may win Texas and here is why.

"With McCain"s GOP nomination virtually assured, rumors say some Texas Republicans are apparently planning to vote in the Democratic primary, hoping to affect the outcome of that tight presidential race." It"s referred to as "Strategic Voting".

"One rumor is that Texas Republicans will jump over and vote for Obama, perceived by some Republicans as the "weak sister" " the candidate who Republicans feel McCain could beat in November. Another rumor has it they will cross over and vote for Clinton to keep the race tight, which in turn could exhaust more Democratic funds and possibly cause a split within the party."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Her_Now

If he does, the name of this website will become "Stop Him Now" and will destroy him.

[bob5701]

Prediction from a reliable source.Obama wins Texas by 18 and Ohio by 15.

[PrdAmerican]

God...I hope it wasn't Diebold! LOL!

[sfbayani]

Really, that would be great!
If so, the Obama campaign can concentrate on fighting McCain. The Billary duo should do a lot of thinking - of bowing out SOON!

[newfapalooza]

This is smart. If Obama wins Tx and can come within 5pts or so in OH, there will be a lot of pressure on Clinton to pack it in. Even if she doesn't I think public perception will be that this is over and he can start concentrating on the GE.

If he doesn't this will jsut drag out and I don't think that will be good for Dems in the GE

[iPolitics]

Barack, finish her off. Don't just win. Make it 10+ points.

[Felicty]

President Obama would be the best thing to ever happen to the state of Texas.

[Anderkoo]

In terms of campaign spending, it seems the Obama folks are very strategic in where they allocate resources and where they don't. What I saw in South Carolina was full-color glossy handouts with several different messages for different audiences (one generic, one Christian) and they had full-color, glossy door hangers with stickers on them indicating the polling location. By contrast, in Massachusetts (a state the campaign all but abandoned in favor of Connecticut) there were scarce color brochures but half-sheet paper handouts that were badly messaged, perhaps even counter-productive (they were touting Kennedy's endorsement even though the campaign had targeted youth / independents).