Barack Says Hello As Minnesota Suddenly Matters
Earlier today, I received the first of what I presume will be a flurry of phone calls looking for my vote in Minnesota's caucus on February 5th. This call didn't come from the Republicans, however, but from the Barack Obama campaign. They wanted to see if they could count on my vote.
How did they get my name on their list? Recall a couple of months ago that I attempted to get leading Democratic presidential contenders to appear on my Heading Right Radio show on BlogTalkRadio. The only response I received was a blizzard of e-mails asking me to contribute to their campaigns, even when I clearly sent my request to their press shops. I eventually got my name off of the John Edwards list, which saved me a half-dozen e-mails a day, but since the Obama campaign didn't bother me much after the first couple of appeals, I never bothered with it.
The caller seemed amused when I explained who I was and why my name was on her list. She and I chatted a while about Obama, and she told me that the campaign wants to make a big play for Republican votes here in Minnesota. They have a Republicans for Obama organization in the offing, and she claimed that Republicans have been flocking to Obama, something Sean at MNPublius also claimed ten weeks ago.
I'm not sure how true that is or how that effort will succeed. Obama has a more standard liberal policy profile than Hillary Clinton and a more retreatist position on the war. However, he also has a genuineness and dignity about him that Hillary and the entire Clinton squad lacks, and some Republicans might be happy just to see Hillary get bounced in the primaries. And make no mistake -- Minnesota suddenly matters as neither party has achieved any real clarity on its nomination. We'll be part of a crowd on February 5th, but still an important part, for both Democrats and Republicans.
I did ask to see whether Obama wants to do an interview. The caller said she's pass it along to the Saint Paul office's press shop to see whether they can arrange it. I'd say it's unlikely to happen, but if they really want to reach out to Minnesota Republicans, they're going to have to start talking to one of us.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on January 20, 2008 4:50 PM | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Comments
Please note that unverified Disqus users will have comments held in moderation. Please visit Disqus to register and verify your account. Comments from verified users will appear immediately.