Obama Campaign: We'll have Staff in all 50 States

[Lunar]

Well, this is why I'm not donating to Obama. I don't want him wasting my money on opening an office in Oklahoma.

To be fair, offices in Oklahoma are probably only going to be used to:
a) Get more donations for use in swing states
b) Be part of a positive-image that is the national 50-state campaign
c) Volunteer for phonebanks and whatnot in meaningful state
d) Influence national poll numbers to get more positive news coverage whenever they give a national poll.
e) There is a positive effect that I doubt few here acknowledge that goes like this.  The better that people in Texas think of Obama, the better they'll defend (or attack less agressively) him at the dinner table/whatever with their relatives in meaningful states.  This family contact probably should not be underestimated too much since these sorts of discussions are infinitely more persuasive and meaningful, especially when coming from a non-hackish family member, than a 30 second commercial during the news.  These are people who share a good part of spreading the 'Obama is a Manchurian candidate in the pay of Bin Laden' rumor.

[Nym90]

Well, this is why I'm not donating to Obama. I don't want him wasting my money on opening an office in Oklahoma.

To be fair, offices in Oklahoma are probably only going to be used to:
a) Get more donations for use in swing states
b) Be part of a positive-image that is the national 50-state campaign
c) Volunteer for phonebanks and whatnot in meaningful state
d) Influence national poll numbers to get more positive news coverage whenever they give a national poll.
e) There is a positive effect that I doubt few here acknowledge that goes like this.  The better that people in Texas think of Obama, the better they'll defend (or attack less agressively) him at the dinner table/whatever with their relatives in meaningful states.  This family contact probably should not be underestimated too much since these sorts of discussions are infinitely more persuasive and meaningful, especially when coming from a non-hackish family member, than a 30 second commercial during the news.  These are people who share a good part of spreading the 'Obama is a Manchurian candidate in the pay of Bin Laden' rumor.

Good points, all. Obama doesn't want to allow a negative image of him to thrive or go unchallenged anywhere. Even though the Electoral College attempts to treat it as such, the election is not just 50 separate state election totally autonomous of each other.

[Lunar]

The opposite is equally important as well, especially in this race-challenged atmosphere.  If someone in the family mentions feeling uncomfortable with this inexperienced black man, Barack wants someone to say "but he's got all these great ideas" or "what about the Iraq war, can McCain be trusted?," especially influential among those who have a tradition of voting independent or Republican. 

I'm kind of uncertain how national poll numbers impact the race and am debating it within myself.  It's good to be seen as the frontrunner since many apolitical people vote for who they think is going to win (democracy has its flaws here).  But McCain probably thrives best when he's the underdog in public perception and is most likely to pull hail mary political strategies in this type of situation that makes him harder to beat than a conventional Republican. I think it's overall best to be up for Obama since it might be comforting to people anxious about this foreign man with a funny name, knowing that the majority of the country is ok with him (in addition to the whole positive-news-cycle thingy).

[Eraserhead]

With the kind of money he has, it's probably not the worst idea.

[Lunar]

With the kind of money he has, it's probably not the worst idea.

I forgot, it is a strategy that will most directly pay off in downballot races.  For Obama, this payout will affect him most clearly when he needs to get Congress to do stuff after he is elected.  Of course, he doesn't care about this any more than he cares about what John Edwards had for breakfast last Thursday at this moment.

This could have a positive effect towards 'unifying the party' if Hillary's backers find their GOTV efforts significantly boosted etc.  I'm not really sure the extent to this idea is tangible in terms of votes, but having congressional Hillary supporters (and others) being balls-to-the-Congressional-halls'-walls throwing their support behind Obama should do something somewhere.

[King]

John McCain is happy man upon hearing this news.

Who cares if Obama out-fundraises him when half of that money goes to states like Utah or Massachusetts?


That being said, I think this is just another awesome move in what appears to be an awesome election (combined with McCain's joint town hall idea and the fact that 30% of voters are defining themselves as swing by Rasmussen).

[Eleanor Martins]

People forget that having a presence even in a state that's deep red has a regenerative effect, I assure you that Joe Sixpack seeing Obama volunteers on the streets of say, Salt Lake City, increases his propensity to donate to the campaign, as compared to if he got the impression that Obama was going to pretend that Utah doesn't exist.

In addition, especially in this day and age, states aren't self-contained environs - if Utahn Joe gets enthusiastic about the Democratic campaign, that enthusiasm has the ability to transcend barriers and reach a much larger audience. You don't put money in Utah and see the effects of that investment limited to Utah and Utah only.

I'm also surprised that people still hold the impression of the Obama effort as inorganic, we've seen time and again that his centrally directed energies are a lot lower than other campaigns. One need only look at his fellowship program, if he gets a posse of volunteers (i.e. are not paid) in Oklahoma who basically create something from scratch in the state, I fail to see how this will minimize his expenditures in any meaningful way in Ohio. I'm not arguing that there still exist marginal constraints, but if McCain has to keep pace in terms of boots on the ground in a place like Georgia, I don't see where he has wide enough a volunteer base to power his efforts there, being forced instead to employ paid workers.

[Lunar]

John McCain is happy man upon hearing this news.

Who cares if Obama out-fundraises him when half of that money goes to states like Utah or Massachusetts?

I doubt it.  First of all, only a fraction of a fraction of his money will go to such states.  The campaign only said that it would have staffers in all 50 states.  The vast majority of campaign spending is on ad buys is critical media markets and his campaign has given no indications that they will buy ads in 50 states.  In fact, in their recent inquiries of 25 states' media markets that include such far-reachers as Mississippi, they limit themselves to that 25 number.  They won't run ads in all 25 for sure, but the fact is that they weren't even looking into prices for ads in half of the United States.

Secondly, we have to assume that the Obama campaign, which is filled with very intelligent, politically savvy people (whatever faults they may have) would not decide just to blow their money away.

Third, everyone should be familiar with the idea of diminishing returns.  Spending the ten million and first dollar in Pennsylvania will yield far less of an impact than a single dollar in Alaska.  He's hunting for more than just converting his money directly into electoral votes here.

[SPQR]

He's got enough money to do it, and he wants to show that it's not just about the swing states but about the whole of US...I admire what he is doing.

[7,052,770]

People are going overboard.  Obviously he's not going to spend very much money in the solid red states, compared to the swing states.  But the Democrats living in those red states really appreciate the gesture.  He's telling us that he remembers us, that he considers us valuable to the party and to his campaign, and that if any red state just happens to tighten up and become competitive for any possible reason, he'll have a staff ready to capitalize on the situation.

[Kushahontas]

People are going overboard.  Obviously he's not going to spend very much money in the solid red states, compared to the swing states.  But the Democrats living in those red states really appreciate the gesture.  He's telling us that he remembers us, that he considers us valuable to the party and to his campaign, and that if any red state just happens to tighten up and become competitive for any possible reason, he'll have a staff ready to capitalize on the situation.

[elcorazon]

I haven't read most of this thread, but here are a few thoughts on why it's not insane.

1.  you never know if you have a shot until you try.
2.  coattails
3.  with all their money, spending it all in a few states will be overkill so it's better to spread it around and not seem like you're constantly advertising which can backfire at times.
4.  he's actually trying to alter the playing field.  He knows there are some democratic base voters he's going to lose, but by broadening the field, he may pick up a state or 2 he didn't think he could.
5.  A lot of those states where he can't win supposedly won't cost a ton of money to have a small campaign in - he doesn't have to give each state equal attention to compete in each state.

[The Mikado]

It's an effort to help the Democratic Party downballot.  Obviously, he won't win Wyoming, but he might think that the Democratic candidate for Cubin's open seat could win, and improving the Democratic brand out in cowboy country can't hurt.  He won't win Idaho, but showing that Democrats are actual living, breathing, human beings might help the party brand in an area where Democrats seem all-but-extinct.  Same with the rest of these states.

One thing: running in all fifty states does not mean he's going to make a 10 million dollar ad buy in Tulsa and Cheyenne.  Barack Obama is idealistic, but he is not stupid.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Man, Wyoming4Obama Team Lead must be a lonely, lonely, overpaid job.

Note that nothing there said that working Team Obama in Cheyenne would be a paid position.

Honestly, I just read this as a throw away press release for the base.  It's not like Obama will seriously be keeping Vermont volunteers in state rather than shipping them 20 miles east where it really matters.

[Hash]

On to Kansas! Obama has obviously been reading these forums.

Shut up with Kansas already, we get the point.

[Aizen]

Well, MSNBC just said Obama is on track to raise 100 million this month. Perhaps he could afford to spend a bit of coin in North Dakota.

[Flying Dog]

Well, MSNBC just said Obama is on track to raise 100 million this month. Perhaps he could afford to spend a bit of coin in North Dakota.

Wow.

[J. J.]

I haven't read most of this thread, but here are a few thoughts on why it's not insane.

1.  you never know if you have a shot until you try.
2.  coattails
3.  with all their money, spending it all in a few states will be overkill so it's better to spread it around and not seem like you're constantly advertising which can backfire at times.
4.  he's actually trying to alter the playing field.  He knows there are some democratic base voters he's going to lose, but by broadening the field, he may pick up a state or 2 he didn't think he could.
5.  A lot of those states where he can't win supposedly won't cost a ton of money to have a small campaign in - he doesn't have to give each state equal attention to compete in each state.

This was Nixon's strategy in 1960.  It was abandoned by 1968.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Well, MSNBC just said Obama is on track to raise 100 million this month. Perhaps he could afford to spend a bit of coin in North Dakota.

Eeee gads! 100 Million? Are you sure you heard right? $100 million in one month?

[Lunar]

Well, MSNBC just said Obama is on track to raise 100 million this month. Perhaps he could afford to spend a bit of coin in North Dakota.

Eeee gads! 100 Million? Are you sure you heard right? $100 million in one month?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/09/obama-could-raise-100-mil_n_106169.html

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I haven't read most of this thread, but here are a few thoughts on why it's not insane.

1.  you never know if you have a shot until you try.
2.  coattails
3.  with all their money, spending it all in a few states will be overkill so it's better to spread it around and not seem like you're constantly advertising which can backfire at times.
4.  he's actually trying to alter the playing field.  He knows there are some democratic base voters he's going to lose, but by broadening the field, he may pick up a state or 2 he didn't think he could.
5.  A lot of those states where he can't win supposedly won't cost a ton of money to have a small campaign in - he doesn't have to give each state equal attention to compete in each state.

This was Nixon's strategy in 1960.  It was abandoned by 1968.

Yeah, but Nixon didn't have anywhere near the kind of money Obama has, and JFK was much better financed than McCain will be.

[agcatter]

Spend 10 million in Texas for all I care.  He spent close to that in the Texas Primary and his numbers dropped the last 4 to 5 days before the election.

yawn.

[Frodo]

Howard Dean will be proud...   

Seriously though, this is a smart move on Obama's part.  He is neither stupid nor delusional, so I conclude that (since he obviously can afford to) he wants to complement Dean's efforts in building the Democratic Party in every state throughout the country the same way Republicans did in the 1970s.  He is clearly looking beyond this coming election with the object of building an enduring Democratic majority, seeking to succeed where Karl Rove has failed. 

[NOVA Green]

Howard Dean will be proud...   

Seriously though, this is a smart move on Obama's part.  He is neither stupid nor delusional, so I conclude that (since he obviously can afford to) he wants to complement Dean's efforts in building the Democratic Party in every state throughout the country the same way Republicans did in the 1970s.  He is clearly looking beyond this coming election with the object of building an enduring Democratic majority, seeking to succeed where Karl Rove has failed. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^