Barack just sent out this email . . .
Amanda —
A few hours ago John McCain, the same man who just months ago promised to run a "respectful campaign," said he is "proud" of his latest attack ad.
That’s the one attacking your enthusiasm, comparing me to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and making false claims about my energy plan.
Now, we’re facing some serious challenges in this country — our economy is struggling, energy costs are skyrocketing, and families don’t have health care.
Given the seriousness of these issues, you’d think we’d be having a serious debate. But instead, John McCain is running an expensive, negative campaign against us. Each day brings a desperate new set of attacks.
And they’re not just attacking me. They’re attacking you.
They’re mocking the desire of millions of Americans to step up and take ownership of the political process.
They’re trying to convince you that your enthusiasm won’t amount to anything — that the people you persuade, the phone calls you make, the donations you give, the doors you knock on are all an illusion. They believe that in this election the same old smears and negative attacks will prevail again.
They’re wrong.
And right now, we have a few hours left to prove them wrong in a very concrete way.
Can you make a donation right now before the July fundraising deadline at midnight tonight?
Show the strength of our movement for change.
Thank you,
Barack
Read more about this story…
From the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama campaigned through the conservative heart of rural Missouri on Wednesday, determined to prove that a Democrat can capture this bellwether state by winning over voters in its far-flung small towns as well as in its urban centers.
With a town hall meeting and rally in Springfield, another in Rolla, a stop in Lebanon, and a rainy barbecue here, Obama is trying to mimic Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill’s winning game plan from 2006 and get beyond more traditional strategies that left Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) narrow losers in the Show-Me State. Democrats have traditionally counted on huge margins in St. Louis and Kansas City to counter GOP strength in the rest of the state, and it hasn’t worked.
"We are going to be fighting for every vote here in Missouri," Obama told an audience in Rolla. "Don’t let the other side scare you from what you know in your gut. You know in your gut we have to bring about change…"
[T]he Obama campaign is making a run at it, with 24 offices in rural Missouri and 150 paid staff members, an unprecedented total that is triple the number Kerry deployed.
"It’s the difference between winning and losing," said McCaskill, who squeaked past Republican Jim Talent with 49.6 percent of the vote in 2006. "People all over the state need to have a sense that a candidate cares about them, and if you don’t bother to show up in rural Missouri, if you don’t bother to ask for people’s votes all over the state, then you’re not going to win statewide in Missouri."
From the Los Angeles Times:
Barack Obama campaigned deep in Republican strongholds in southwest Missouri on Wednesday, stressing economic themes to woo fence-sitters and scoffing at rival John McCain for "tired old answers."
Obama’s forays into conservative-dominated districts were designed to highlight his economic offensive against McCain, but the Missouri thrust was also carefully aimed at easing swing-state voters’ qualms about the Illinois senator’s background and political resume.
"We can’t afford to have eight more years of what we’ve been having," Obama told a crowd of 1,500 people crowded into the gym of Glendale High School in downtown Springfield.
… Obama repeatedly linked [John] McCain with President Bush, who handily won southwest Missouri counties in the 2000 and 2004 elections but whose popularity has eroded, Democratic Party operatives here say, because of the tanking national economy and the drawn-out war in Iraq.
"John McCain believes we’re on the right track. He’s said our economy has made great progress these past eight years," Obama said, drawing a wave of laughter. "He’s embraced the Bush economic policies and promises to continue them."
Even as he castigated McCain, Obama also took care to urge Missouri voters to spurn Internet rumors and intensifying GOP assaults that have taken a toll on his poll ratings.
"The only way they figure they’re going to win this election is if they make you scared of me," Obama later told a crowd of 1,200 in a college recreation center in the small central Missouri town of Rolla. " ‘He’s new. He doesn’t look like the other presidents on the dollar bills. He’s got a funny name. . . .’ The argument is that I’m too risky."
The real risk, Obama insisted, is "doing the same things we’ve done the last eight years." He implored the Rolla crowd: "Don’t let them scare you."
Obama aides said his appeals were part of the campaign’s calibrated effort to take on misinformation and GOP broadsides even in conservative enclaves that might otherwise be written off.
"He’s here to talk about the economy, but he’s also here to address people’s concerns about him," said Jen Psaki, a campaign spokeswoman. "These are districts where the vote was 65% to 35% for Bush in the last two elections. It shows we intend to be competitive in places where Democrats have tended to shy away from in the past."
In 2004, Sen. John F. Kerry’s presidential campaign made a strong display of committing campaign cash and staffers to Missouri but in the end did not make a concerted final push, Obama advisors said — a mistake they insisted Obama would not repeat.
From the Quad-City Times:
Fresh from an overseas tour, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama plans to focus on economic issues today in his first stop in Iowa since he clinched his party’s nomination.
Obama will be in Cedar Rapids visiting with flood victims, then will host a town hall meeting on the economy.
Campaign officials say Obama recognizes that people are struggling with the economy and with flood recovery in Iowa.
"Senator Obama wants to hear directly from Iowans affected by the floods and listen to their concerns and the challenges they’re facing and talk about a way ahead," said Jenni Lee, a spokesperson.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Money won’t get you into Denver’s Invesco Field when Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech at next month’s Democratic convention, but a pledge to volunteer time to his campaign might do the trick.
Colorado’s Democratic Party and the Obama campaign are talking about distributing tickets to the Thursday, Aug. 28, speech to those who pledge to do door-to-door canvassing, make phone calls, register voters, work on get-out-the-vote projects and otherwise help the party in Colorado this fall.
After years as a reliably Republican state, Colorado is seen as an important swing state this year. Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, are in a neck-and-neck race for the state’s nine electoral votes, and Democrat Mark Udall is narrowly favored to replace Republican Sen. Wayne Allard, who is retiring.
Colorado Democratic Chair Pat Waak says that when she last checked a couple of weeks ago, she and the state party had received 15,000 requests for tickets to the 76,000-seat field where the Denver Broncos play. That’s separate from requests going to the campaign and the national party.
State-party workers will have first dibs on the tickets, she says, but the party and campaign also are talking about distributing tickets to outsiders in return for "a commitment of time." They haven’t decided how much time they’ll ask ticket holders to pledge, or how or if they’ll enforce those pledges, she adds.
From the McKeesport Daily News:
… Gov. Ed Rendell [announced] the opening of 24 of 27 regional offices for the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania.
"That’s 10 times the number of offices John McCain has," Obama state director Craig Schirmer said.
"That is unprecedented in all the presidential campaigns I have been involved in, dating back over 30 years," Rendell said. "I am confident that we will win the state, not overconfident, although Pennsylvania’s economy is doing slightly better than the rest of the nation."
"Pennsylvania is generally and typically an important battleground state," Obama national deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand said. "It is a state that we cannot take for granted. We plan to run a very aggressive campaign there."
Hildebrand said Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, is second only to Florida (27) among battleground states.
Campaign officials said no office was located in McKeesport, though the Mon Valley for Obama organization has been looking for a larger office for local activities.
Schirmer and Hildebrand said offices in the statewide network are located within a 30-minute drive for 93 percent of the Illinois senator’s volunteers. A map released by the campaign shows 15 offices are open or are scheduled to open in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Five are in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with the rest in Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Erie, Altoona, Johnstown and State College. A Beaver office also is scheduled to open.
Still, Schirmer insisted, "rural communities have been ignored far too long. You will hear more of us on rural outreaches."
Read more about this story…
Earlier today, Campaign Manager David Plouffe sent out the following email . . .
Amanda —
As we face the fundraising deadline at midnight tonight, I want you to know what we are up against.
Less than 24 hours ago, the McCain campaign launched the latest and lowest in a series of misleading attack ads.
This Karl Rove-style ploy misleads people about Barack’s energy plan and even mocks his ability to inspire voters and bring Americans back into the political process.
Watchdogs in the media are calling McCain’s accusations "bogus," "desperate," "wrong," "misleading," "ugly," "offensive," "reckless," and "a nasty turn into the gutter."
Some of McCain’s own supporters agree. One senior Republican strategist quoted by the Washington Post called the latest ad a "wild swing at Obama" that reflects his campaign’s "increasing bitterness" and the lack of "any coherent strategy to elect McCain."
Even John Weaver, a strategist who worked for McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000 and on his current campaign last year, called the ad "childish," adding that this negative strategy "diminishes John McCain" and "needs to stop."
But we will not let any attack stand. Barack himself responded quickly and forcefully, and within hours our campaign created a response ad to take their smear tactics head-on.
Can you make a donation now to get our response on the air and show the McCain campaign that there is a cost to this kind of negative politics?
With the election less than 100 days away, media pundits and Washington insiders will be watching our fundraising numbers more closely than ever.
In the face of these new attacks, you can help demonstrate that a movement funded by grassroots supporters giving only what they can afford is ready to take on the Republican fundraising machine and its onslaught of negativity.
Your support will also give this campaign a crucial boost in momentum as we build our organization to compete in all 50 states.
There are only hours left to make an impact in July.
Watch the new ad and make a donation before the midnight deadline.
Thanks,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
Read more about this story…
