WSJ, pg1: Obama's Fate in Texas Hinges on Volunteers; Paid Staff Arrived Only Weeks Ago

[DeepModem Mom]

Obama's Fate in Texas Hinges on Volunteers
Paid Staff Arrived Only Weeks Ago; Mr. Davis's Push
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER
February 29, 2008; Page A1

AUSTIN, Texas -- Sen. Barack Obama's pivotal victories last month in Iowa and South Carolina over Sen. Hillary Clinton were engineered by professional staffers who worked those states for nearly a year. In Texas, the story has been a lot different. His organization in the Lone Star State, which holds its potentially decisive presidential primary on Tuesday, has been "more like a baling wire and duct tape thing," says Mitch Stewart, who is running the campaign here. Mr. Stewart and the first dozen paid Obama staffers touched down in this capital city less than three weeks ago.

The uncharacteristic late start has left the Illinois senator relying to an unusual degree on the groundwork of volunteers such as Ian Davis. The 29-year-old Austin community organizer has been laboring for months with no guidance at all from Obama headquarters. When Sen. Obama's team finally arrived, Mr. Davis handed over laundry baskets stuffed with 20,000 handwritten names of potential volunteers, which Mr. Davis had gathered on his own. "At the end of the day," Mr. Stewart says, it will be people like Ian Davis "who win this thing."

Early on in the national campaign, Obama headquarters saw no good reason to devote substantial resources to Texas. Few experts expected the showdown between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton to climax here. Texas is a deeply Republican state, and hasn't played a deciding role in a Democratic nominating contest in 20 years....

Sen. Clinton's Texas strategy relies on a campaign formula frequently used by front-runners -- one that she has used in other states. Over the past year, she has amassed a whopping 130 endorsements from local politicians. Many of them have pledged their own organizations to her cause. The tally for Sen. Obama numbers only a few dozen. One of Sen. Clinton's most prominent supporters in Texas, Henry Cisneros, the former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says her campaign is relying on more than just endorsements. "We've got a strong street organization," he says, "I don't think she's going to get beat at the street level."

Clinton allies say they are skeptical that Sen. Obama can organize a grass-roots campaign in such a short period of time. "Can Texas be organized? Sure it can," says state Sen. Carlos Uresti, a backer of Sen. Clinton. His sprawling, Latino-heavy district encompasses 55,000 square miles of parched land between San Antonio and El Paso and is considered a stronghold for the former first lady. "We did the block-walking, went to the PTA meetings, did the weddings," he says. "But I had four months to do it. Obama has three weeks. Where would you even start?"

For the Obama campaign, supporters like Mr. Davis could be the answer....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120424066310201213.html

[thunder rising]

1. Yeah enough of those NBA sized rallies and speeches. And giving bus rides to the polls. Obama is

so had. Billary is inevitable! All they lack is a winning final count .. that's all. And when she gets that, man Obama is done!

I think state Sen. Carlos Uresti is about to get a lesson on OLD machine politics.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

2. Meh, we'll see on Tues