WHY isn't Obama in TX more?

[loveangelc]

I dont understand why he's in Rhode Island instead of campaigning in TX. Actually I don't understand why hes going to be in OH instead of TX since I think he has a better chance of winning TX. Hillary is spending every day until Tuesday in TX...If he wins TX I think he could clench the nomination...so I'm not sure why he's not campaigning hard in TX. What is he thinking?

[Eric J in MN]

1. Maybe he doesn't want Hillary Clinton to have any landslide victories on Tuesday. NT

NT

[jezebel]

2. I think Clinton is in Ohio all day tomorrow, not Tx. NT

[anonymous171]

3. My guess is he's trying to cut Hillary's wins down.

So she can't claim a mandate.

[loveangelc]

21. Shouldn't he be doing that in TX more than OH since it closer?

unless something is telling them OH is close..

[Johnny__Motown]

4. I Think he has Texas Won. He is trying to sweep again, that should do her in for sure.

[MadBadger]

5. Polls are closing in OH. He will be in TX on the day of the primary.

[loveangelc]

17. But shouldn't he be campaigning in TX to make sure he actually wins???

[MadBadger]

24. I think hes trying to win in OH. Both are very close right now

I think doing one stop in RI was smart too.

[Johnny__Motown]

25. He seems to know exactly where and how to win the most delegates, I trust his judgment

[loveangelc]

30. imo he just needs to win tx, delegates are going to be split evenly imo

[Johnny__Motown]

37. If you say so. But if he can pull off the long shot and sweep all 4 it would be huge

[KLee]

6. Because RI is a state too.

[Cha]

14. That counts and whose State Motto

is "Hope"!

[Tatiana]

7. Keeping the delegate count close in all four states. 50-state strategy. n/t

[OzarkDem]

8. Maybe he's giving up there?

[cali]

18. Hardly. More likely his internals show him with a sizable margin of victory

[babylonsister]

9. I think he's thinking he's doing well in TX and prefers to spend time

in a state that needs his attention more.

[Kittycat]

10. ?!?!?! Every state matters, not just TX.

He's campaigning everywhere. He was in RI today - and in OH right now. He spent a week in TX. Do we know where he'll be tomorrow or Monday? The point is, he's making the rounds because every vote in every state counts.

[loveangelc]

28. I know that every state counts. I'm just saying strategically it would be best if he spend a lot of

time in TX to make sure he can win the state...

[dansolo]

49. Haven't you learned by now not to second-guess his strategy

He has been absolutely perfect so far, so I am willing to defer to his judgment. He is privy to a lot more internal polling, so I'm sure that he has good reason for choosing where he will campaign in the remaining few days.

[w8liftinglady]

11. he's actually been quite visible in my area-dallas/ft worth

[jefferson_dem]

12. He's in Ohio. Delivering a speech from there right now.

C-SPAN.

:hi:

[K Gardner]

13. Obama actually likes people. From ALL states. Hillary said "this is a hunt for delegates". He

believes it is a journey for the soul of America. One american at a time. :hi:

[quantass]

20. Wow -- I am glad Obama is going to be our Nominee and not Hilary

[K Gardner]

29. Anch'io ! Tanto meglio !

[Pirate Smile]

15. He is going back to Texas to campaign (I'm not sure which day) and his

speech on Tuesday night will be from Texas.

[NJSecularist]

16. There is only so much Obama can do in Texas

His ground game needs to take over there. Whomever has the best organization in Texas will win.

He needs to try to bridge the gap in Ohio and Rhode Island. Maybe he can win both of them and put the final nail in the coffin of the HRC campaign.

[loveangelc]

32. I read a comment on a blog that Hillary has 40,000 volunteers in TX.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/1/185944/5272/784/467030

im wondering if thats true.

[NJSecularist]

34. I've heard Obama has close to 100,000+

But I certainly can't confirm that....

[rainbow4321]

40. He had 100,000 volunteers on the ground before TX was going to "matter"

Now reportedly the # has doubled and moveon.org has organized phonebank parties/plan that will contact 400,000 Texans tomorrow (Sunday) for him. See below link/thread:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4829097&mesg_id=4829097


Dallas Morning News blog said this week that he will be spending Tuesday evening/night in Texas. Austin paper quoted someone from his camp as saying that he will be "back in Texas on election night if not before".

[loveangelc]

42. o ok, thanks

[splat]

38. Hillary's been there for months; Obama opened offices 3 weeks ago

[NJSecularist]

53. That is completely untrue and utter bullshit

[sniffa]

19. Internals show he's on the move in RI

He can pull it off, and he's not stupid.

I think Texas is his, by a large number - both in numbers and delegates.

Ohio may go his way too, as he has the ground game and the money.

[BeatleBoot]

22. He Ensured That All of the State Republicans Got their Memo and Marching Orders

Marching Orders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_jnhsyqg0


Memo:

http://republicansforobama.org/?q=node/359


E-mail to send to Texas Republicans


Attention All Texas Republicans and Independents!!

On March 4th, Texas Republicans and Independents will have an opportunity to end Hillary Clinton's (and Bill's) presidential ambitions once and for all!

Since Texas has on open primary, Republicans and Independents should sign in at their polling place and request a Democratic ballot. They should then vote for Barack Obama. Even James Carville admits that if Hillary loses Texas, "she's done!" Republicans can help make this a reality!!! Just think, no more Clintons in the White House!

Voting Democratic this one time will have NO effect on your ability to vote in the next Republican primary or obviously on your vote in November. Since John McCain has the Republican nomination locked up, voting for McCain or Huckabee at this point will have no effect on the outcome on the Republican side.

After you vote during early voting or on March 4th, you ARE NOT done! Report back to your regular polling place at 7PM on March 4th to sign the Barack Obama list for caucus delegates. In a little known Texas voting quirk, 67 delegates to the Democratic convention will be seated because of these caucuses. This is a full one-third of the total number of Texas delegates. For Hillary to lose, she has to lose the primary votes AND the caucus votes.

I urge you to vote against Hillary Clinton by voting for Barack Obama. Please forward this e-mail to all your Texas Republican and Independent friends so that we can help ensure the Clinton's defeat on March 4th!!!

[crispini]

23. He's all over the place here.

Not sure what you're worried about? :shrug:

[loveangelc]

35. idk i guess im just hoping he wins that state. hwo do u feel tx is going?

[crispini]

48. he has a LOT of grassroots support here. nt

[jenmito]

26. He must know something we don't. Maybe early voting has alredy put him far

enough ahead that he can afford to try to win RI, which would be unexpected.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

27. He might know what he's doing. I think the campaign's success, or lack thereof,

is a pretty good indicator of how that candidate might manage in the role of leader.

[kwenu]

31. Obama has been all over Texas this Week!!!!!

Whoa! Obama has been in Texas all week in Austin, San Marcos, Dallas, Houston and the Valley. Today is the first day this week that I know of where he hasn't been in Texas. He needs to spend time in OH,VT and RI too.

[4themind]

33. It seems to be consistent with his strategy so far...

In that he's focused on the delegates from small states, in addition to the larger ones. He has ground operations in place already, getting their caucus organizing/practising together(which is where I think he's counting on to really raise his net delegate count), so they can work on that while he goes to other states to try and cut down on hillary's totals there. From most of the polls I've read ,hillary has a very big lead in RI, but there are many undecideds as well. So, if he can hold a very large rally there, dominate the state and local news (his tie in with the state via his brother-in-law coach at Brown can make for an interesting story for them to run) then he may be able limit hillary's gains.

There may be more room for growth in RI due to the # of undecideds and his lack of personal appearances in the state up to this point(and when he does make these appearances it seems to dramatically improve his numbers). It's a almost a diversification of effort in order to conserve the gains he's already made(by using advantage of the proportional delegate system to limit her's). Besides, he'll be back in texas before the election to do additional campaigning there, so he won't forget about it entirely. Just one afternoon in a place with so many undecides(ri) may, help moreso than continuing one extra afternoon in a state that he's campaigned in extensively. Just one possibility

If he loses texas by the popular vote, that will give hillary at least a symbolic reason to continue, but in obama's estimation, perhaps, as long as he wins more delegates from texas (viat the combination primary/caucus system) that is what will be needed to cash in the nomination and to say he won the day. We'll see if it works.

[RBInMaine]

36. RI is gonna be CLOSE, he's in OH tonight and tomorrow, then

back to TX no later than Monday from what I understand. There are several states in which to campaign, not just TX. Try again.

[splat]

39. Rhode Island isn't polling close

[RBInMaine]

44. 49-40 with Obama gaining, when Hillary WAS 30 points ahead.

He had overflow crowds today, has people working the ground hard there, is on the air, and will continue to close the gap. He may not win it there, but trust me, it will pretty close in the end compared to how far ahead she has been. Remember, TX, OH, and RI ALL have had HUGE Hillary advantages from the start in terms of the demographics and the political machines she has had in place for a hell of a long time.

[loveangelc]

41. Don't tell me to "try again."

I'm just saying TX is tightening and Hillary may be doing increasingly better according to some polls..

[thevoiceofreason]

43. Just like obama was doing better in the NH polls right before the election

[TexasObserver]

45. Obama hopes to run the table Tuesday, win all four.

I suspect that he knows that Rhode Island is Hillary's best hope for a victory, so he wants to snuff that out if he can, or narrow her margin. He also wants to force her to run back to RI, to try to salvage that one.

[adoraz]

46. I find this very strange as well .....

I think Tuesday will be all about mind share. They will likely split the delegates anyways. All Obama needs to do is win Vermont, keep it close in Ohio, and win Texas. That way, the headlines can't be pro Hillary. If he loses both Ohio and Texas, even by a few percent, momentum could start going Hillary's way.

It doesn't make any sense to me why Obama isn't campaigning in Texas since its incredibly, incredibly close.

Makes me think he has something big planned (endorsement maybe?), but I am not counting on it.

One thing I know for sure, his campaign knows what they are doing.

[adoraz]

47. how come so many of you are so sure Obama will win Texas?

All the newest polls have them extremely close.

[rainbow4321]

50. He's heading back to TX Monday

Hmmm..wouldn't get too excited about the 75 degrees, THAT was this weekend...it's supposed to be 45 in Dallas on Monday!



http://trailblazers.beloblog.com/

Obama is heading back to Texas on Monday, for the duration. Election Night in San Antonio. He'll hold an event in Dallas late afternoon Monday.

"I love Texas. I do. 75 degrees helps," he said mid-flight as we neared Ohio this evening.

[Wayjose]

51. Rhode Island is beginning to trend like Connecticut

I think that Senator Obama will make it very close in Rode Island, perhaps even upset Mrs. Clinton. The last poll about 2-3 days ago showed a Clinton lead of 49-40 but Obama was surging in R.I. With respect to Texas, he has a lead and he is very close or even ahead in Ohio. Vermont is no problem but Senator Obama wants to keep the CLintonistas on their heels guessing where to go next. Looks like a good strategy and it is beginning to pay off. It should be an exciting Tuesday...

[bigbrother05]

52. Early voting in TX closed Fri.

Notice he made a last push there. He's making the rounds in OH & RI before coming back on Mon for the final push. Seems to be "working the room", so to speak, to get everything he can across the board. It's the 50 state strategy, wants to President of the UNITED States.

[Avalux]

54. Here's what I've heard.......

Obama's campaign has looked at their internal numbers and realize they are in a very good position to take Ohio, so they are spending the weekend there to make it happen. If they weren't they wouldn't bother. Texas is much more solid, so Obama will come back here tomorrow and be here Tuesday.

I trust their strategy - they've been spot on so far. :hi:

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

55. Agreed...They've run an excellent campaign and have demonstrated they know what they're doing.

[grantcart]

56. I think its because his ground war in Texas has reached such a high level

anymore exposure would have a marginal impact. There are atleast 300 out of state volunteers working full time in Texas and 40,000 volunteers in Texas.

In the meantime by taking a few hours in RI he can have a mass event and take control over the local media.

Please remember it isn't in the end about winning states but winning delegates and its proportional. If he can take several points away from Hillary in RI it might mean making the difference in wiping out several delegates. I know that he is planning to end up in Texas Monday/tuesday.

And for more on the strategic importance of RI and why it really is the most important state go here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4830347

[thevoiceofreason]

58. As we like to say in Houston

Get out of our way, we're working.

If he holds a rally here, it requires some/lots of his workers to attend/voluteer there rather than knocking on doors and phoning.

A magnificent plan.

[grantcart]

60. yeah in general I wouldn't want to second guess these guys

[BlooInBloo]

57. Yah - you obviously know sooooo much more about campaigning that he does.

[Coexist]

59. loveangelc - read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4840118&mesg_id=4840118

Texas is very close - his campaign had planned for him to be there until the Primary. Something happened that made his campaign believe that they could take Ohio - and that he had a fighting chance in RI.

If he can deny her Oh and Ri - and leave her either winless or take an even # of delegates - than the Supers will start announcing support in large enough #s to give him a clear path to the nomination.