WP,pg1: Barack Obama: The Conventional Wisdom Defied

[DeepModem Mom]

BARACK OBAMA
The Conventional Wisdom Defied
By Paul Kane and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 4, 2008; Page A01

....Angry that their candidate was nearly 30 points behind Hillary Rodham Clinton in national polls, some supporters worried that fundraising would soon dry up. Some wanted a confrontational strategy drawing sharp contrasts with the front-runner. Still others wanted the candidate to rest up for the final months of battle. But Obama and his inner circle decided to stay focused on their original battle plan: lay the groundwork in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and push an aggressive message for change but one of unity and not harsh rhetorical attacks, according to interviews with advisers, fundraisers and supporters....

With a win in the Iowa caucuses last night, Obama shook conventional wisdom to its political core, preaching "post-partisan" comity and becoming the first African American candidate in either party to win the first-in-the-nation balloting. Obama went into a state of 3 million people, just 2 1/2 percent of whom are black, and cleaned up, topping Clinton and former vice presidential nominee John Edwards by more than eight percentage points....

Beating what many considered the Clinton machine was never assumed in the Obama camp. How, they asked, were they to promote a black candidate with little political experience against the most recognizable female politician? During "somewhat contentious" talks in the summer, some Obama advisers argued that they should start to draw sharper contrasts with Clinton, according to (Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D., Ill.), who was in the camp advising that such a strategy could cause a backlash in Iowa.

Instead, Obama ignored the national polls while his campaign built an infrastructure of staffers and foot soldiers inside Iowa that outnumbered the opposition. Obama did take some jabs at Clinton, over foreign policy and her perceived waffling on such issues as Iran, Social Security, and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. But the Obama camp avoided outright attacks over the airwaves, like those that dominated the closing weeks of the Republican campaign....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010400117.html?nav=most_emailed

[Hekate]

1. KnR I'm glad to see that this strategy has served Obama well so far

Thanks DMM

Hekate

[David Dunham]

2. But he has no set national organization like Hillary who'll win in the end

[Bodhi BloodWave]

3. *BEEEEP* wrong answer

He actually has quite the groundwork set up from the look of things (this is on daily kos and is by an campaign blogger for Obama so trust it however much you want)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/3/113815/4403/461/429748

One image i liked from the said blog: ?v=0

I found that blog quite informative