Now it has other state efforts to worry about. In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers and the governor are seeking to change the way the state’s electoral college votes are awarded, proposing to allocate them according to wins in individual congressional districts, rather than giving all 20 votes to whoever wins the state. Pennsylvania has gone for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1992.
In Colorado, a state vital to the Obama reelection strategy, disputes have raged over whether voters who have not participated in recent elections should be mailed a ballot, with the Republican secretary of state pressing officials to exclude people who skipped an election cycle. In almost every circumstance, fewer eligible voters would be bad news for the Obama campaign, which is considering where to file lawsuits and where to deploy volunteers.
Voter-targeting efforts are underway as well. Last week, the campaign introduced “Women for Obama,” a group started by first lady Michelle Obama that strategists hope will capitalize on what aides described as a recent surge in the number of women volunteering for the campaign.
The greatest advantage for Obama’s team appears to be the psychic distance from day-to-day Washington, where White House briefings have centered around buzzwords such as “sequester” (as in the severe cuts that could come now that congressional negotiators were unable to reach a debt deal); “Keystone Pipeline” (as in the oil pipeline that would have run from Canada to Texas before the administration delayed it); and “Greece.”
Members of the Chicago team know all too well what they are missing — and do not miss it. In addition to Messina, who served as deputy chief of staff, recent transplants include deputy campaign manager Julianna Smoot, who was White House social secretary, and Jen O’Malley Dillon, who was executive director of the Democratic National Committee and is now also a deputy campaign manager.
A third deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, is scheduled to arrive this month after she leaves her White House job. Peter Newell, who ran the White House travel office, is now a special assistant to Messina. Three members of the White House press office are now in important roles: Ben LaBolt as press secretary, Katie Hogan as his deputy, and Ben Finkenbinder as head of the Midwestern regional desk.
Senior adviser David Axelrod is in close proximity, having moved back home this year. So is Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, who is helping the campaign. Last Saturday, he delivered a keynote address to Iowa Democrats in Des Moines.
The participants in the process are saying it is working as well as any operation divided between two cities: The disagreements are not between the West Wing and the Chicago leadership, but rather at the staff level. “We’ve all had each other’s jobs,” one senior adviser said. “There is a shorthand. We get criticized a lot for being too insular. The one place where it is helpful is this.”
Loading...
Comments