Florida

Obama keys in on Florida, sending his two top field directors to the state. Marc Ambinder reports:

The Obama campaign's top two field generals have decamped to Florida, a sign of its confidence that the state, with 27 electoral votes, is tilting toward the Democratic candidate.

Steve Hildebrand, the deputy campaign manager, will oversee operations from Miami, and Paul Tewes, the chief general election strategist, will help supervise the get-out-the-vote program from the campaign's state headquarters in Tampa.

Tewes, the Obama campaign's liaison with the Democratic National Committee, arrived today, a colleague said. Both will work with Obama state director Steve Schale, who has put together the biggest field team ever field by a party, Republican or Democratic.

Is anyone else getting the impression that what we're going to see on November 4th will be comparable to what we saw when Obama took Iowa? Quietly, steadily, the Obama campaign built up its support in Iowa from the grassroots level, operating mostly under the radar of the larger political establishment. I'm beginning to have the sneaking suspicion that the national campaign is going the same way.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008