Obama Is Getting Back To Getting Close to Voters; Arenas Are Out, Roller Rink Is In

[DeepModem Mom]

WSJ: Obama Is Getting Back To Getting Close to Voters
Arenas Are Out, Roller Rink Is In; Lesson From Texas
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER and NICK TIMIRAOS
May 5, 2008; Page A5

Sen. Barack Obama has returned to a page in his playbook that served him well during early state nominating contests, ditching arena-style events for thousands in favor of more intimate interaction with potential voters. The strategy shift comes as the Democratic presidential candidates head into the last leg of a grueling race for the nomination with Tuesday contests in Indiana and North Carolina....

Sen. Obama's approach differs from the tack he took in Texas and Ohio in March, when his campaign largely scrapped the town-hall venues that were credited with his surprising win in Iowa at the beginning of the political season. In Pennsylvania, the campaign mixed large rallies -- including one that drew an estimate 35,000 in Philadelphia, the largest of the campaign -- with more town-hall meetings. The rapid succession of primaries after the beginning contests led the campaign to use larger rallies that offered a wider reach. Using the arena approach in Texas in particular is seen in the campaign as "a mistake," said Mitch Stewart, who oversaw Obama's field strategy in Texas and holds the same role in Indiana. Sen. Obama lost the popular vote in Texas by a fair margin, though he eked out a win in delegates....

***

Over the weekend, Sen. Obama engaged in a series of soft campaign events, bringing out his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia, 9 years old, and Sasha, 6, who don't generally travel with him. "We don't get to hang out that much together," Ms. Obama said as the family took the stage Sunday before hundreds of supporters at a "family picnic" in Fort Wayne. With his father's arm around her, Sasha Obama warmed up the crowd with a few words: "Vote for daddy!" The family also canvassed door-to-door in Elkhart, Ind., on Sunday, after making stops Saturday at a Lafayette roller rink, a park picnic in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville, and a home in Kempton that the campaign said was built by one of Sen. Obama's distant ancestors. Appearing tieless and with rolled-up sleeves, Sen. Obama chatted with voters at each stop, in a series of events in which the press was kept at bay.

The door-to-door canvassing illustrates the change in strategy as well. While the Obama campaign relied heavily on a sophisticated, Internet-based call center to press its case in Texas, lieutenants in the field in Indiana have been pressed to stress face-to-face canvassing when deploying volunteers and low-level staff, said Lily West, field director for an Indiana region that includes Noblesville....

Sen. Obama's get-close tour plays up biography as much as policy and is designed to get past nagging questions such as his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., a Chicago preacher whose comments on race and government have given the campaign fits in recent weeks. Sen. Obama has also retooled his speeches to underplay policy and highlight his human side. He stresses his own modest upbringing and ties policy discussions to his family. At a stop in North Carolina last week, he sought to dispel doubts about his willingness to confront terrorists. "I've got a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old daughter, as well as a wife, and if I'm not keeping you safe, I'm not keeping my family safe," he said....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120994334960866053.html