Obama's Campaign Strategy

The Washington Post published a good article today which discusses the unique campaign strategy for Barack Obama's tilt at the nomination.

Check it out here.

Obama Would Beat Giuliani in New York

In a key result for Barack Obama, a poll conducted late January has him defeating Rudy Giuliani in a Presidential contest in New York.

The poll which took place between 22 and 25 January, puts Obama on 42% to Giuliani's 31%. It was conducted by Crains New York Business and surveyed 600 people.

Rudy Giuliani as the popular former Mayor of New York would be expected by those in his party to win that state if he was the nominee. So as a junior Senator from Illinois, this is a good result for Obama.

However, the same poll showed him trailing Clinton as preferred Democratic nominee, 18%-55%, which is to be expected given it is Clinton's home state. John Edwards was on 5% in the same poll.

Richardson Joins Obama's call for Clean Campaign

In his speech to the DNC Winter Meeting yesterday, Governor Bill Richardson yesterday echoed the call by Barack Obama on Friday for a clean campaign for the Democratic Nomination.

On Friday, Obama called for an end to the negative campaigning, saying that the real enemy are those in the White House and the Republicans.

Richardson took a similar line yesterday, going as far as calling on the DNC to pass a resolution banning negative advertising against fellow Democrat candidates for the nomination.

It's a clever strategy by both Obama and Richardson. Obama was the victim recently of an attempt to smear his name, regarding his schooling in Indonesia for a couple of years. Some reports suggested that the smear came from the Clinton campaign, although this was denied.

As Obama's campaign gathers momentum, there will be a temptation by some to begin attacks on him, either directly or through whisper campaigns. Obama and Richardson's calls will now see any of these attacks being viewed with a degree of scepticism.

As Obama said, politics these days is treated with a big degree of cynicism. His call for it to move away from being just a game, will do him no harm over the next 12 months.

Yes We Can - Obama in Virginia

Barack Obama followed up his strong performance at the DNC on Friday with a rally at George Mason University, Virgina.

Close to 2000 people turned up to hear Obama speak at the rally organized by Students For Obama, entitled a "Yes We Can" rally. Obama then went on to New York for a dinner with Democrat donors.

On Saturday, Obama is certain to officially declare in Chicago that he will be seeking the Democratic Nomination for President.

He will be following up shortly afterwards with visits to New Hampshire and Iowa.

Barack Obama at DNC Winter Meeting

"This is Our Time to Lead"

One could be mistaken that Obama was already the Democratic nominee for President, such was the welcome he was given today the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting.

To crowd cheers and a standing ovation, Obama declared "Oh, You look fired up!". Obama said that in this game, sometimes you feel like you are a part of a reality TV show.

Obama spoke plainly about the need to end the cynicism in politics. About how the issues were too important to treat politics as a game.

He also emphasised his long term opposition to the Iraq War, in a differentiation from most of the other candidates.

Obama looked good - and he spoke with passion, taking a different approach from the other candidates.

This speech will certainly go a long way in appealing to grass roots Democrats, who are actually looking for the real thing.

Obama is calling for a clean campaign, and talked about concentrating on fighting the real enemy. This is a smart approach by Obama.

If he keeps up this approach, his appeal to Democrats will rise considerably. In their minds, he may well be the real thing.

Watch the speech here.

Biden Apologises to Obama

Joe Biden has phoned and spoken to Barack Obama after Biden's very unfortunate choice of words published in the New York Observer.

Biden said that Obama was "...the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Biden later clarified his statement to say that he meant that Obama was fresh with new ideas. He also said that Obama was the most exciting Presidential candidate he had seen.

Obama said that he didn't take the comments personally and he didn't think that Biden was meaning to offend him. However, he did say his choice of words was a little unfortunate.

Obama also released a statement saying that "African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate."

Biden's statement later in the day said that "I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone." It certainly wasn't a great start for Biden on his first day.

The Real Barack Obama

There has been a report that Barack Obama, possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, was seen last Friday night, on his way home from Washington, asleep on plane, in economy, with a biography of Robert Kennedy next to him.

One U.K paper draws the comparison between one candidate heading to Iowa with a 10 car cavalcade, a massive entourage and dozens if not hundreds of media in tow - and the other, who was alone, asleep, in economy after a long week's work in Washington.

Yes, it's a contrast.

So is it true? If Barack just a regular guy? These stories sometimes take on a life of their own, but nothing has emerged yet to dispute it.

Obama In New Orleans Today

Barack Obama was today in New Orleans, his third visit to the area since Hurricane Katrina hit. He is participating in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee which is conducting hearings into recovery efforts in the wake of the disaster.

Obama was critical of the fact that the President did not mention Katrina once during his State of the Union Address. He said that President Bush came to New Orleans after the disaster, and told locals that they would do whatever it takes to help people rebuild their lives.

Obama said that we should never again turn our backs on these people.

The visit by Obama and the Committee will include a tour of some of the worst hit areas by Katrina.

Bobby Rush Backs Obama

The man who Barack Obama challenged in 2000 for his position in the United States House is now backing him in the race for the Democratic Nomination.

Rep. Bobby Rush (1st Illinois), has said that it was a tough decision to support Obama, given his close relationship with the Clinton family. But he said that he will be with Obama until the end.

Bill Clinton supported Rush during the primary race in 2000 where Obama led a failed challenge. However, since that time Rush and Obama have formed a close working relationship, with Rush calling him a favorite son.

Rush said that he and Obama are from the same area and represent the same constituency. Rush will be doing his best to sure up the local vote for Obama.

Obama leads McCain in Poll

In a Rasmussen Poll, conducted between January 17 and 18, Barack Obama leads John McCain as preferred President, 47-44.

This is a big jump on the result of the same poll in December. In that poll, McCain had the edge over Obama, 46-40.

In another Rasmussen poll conducted between January 15-18, Obama was sitting on 24% to Hillary Clinton's 31% as preferred Democratic nominee. This is much closer than some of the other polls conducted in the same period.

Hollywood for Obama

Barack Obama will be heading to Hollywood on February 20 for a fundraiser hosted by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

There will be a $2100 a head function at the Beverley Hills Hilton and a private function at David Geffen's home for those pledging to donate over $46,000.

Key Kerry Backer Goes to Obama

One of John Kerry's key fundraisers in 2004 has joined the Barack Obama campaign for the Democratic Nomination.

Alan D Solomont said that Obama was the "sort of person that America wants right now in the White House."

Apparently Solomont was approached by other Democrat candidates for his support, and he does have a close relationship with Hillary Clinton. However, Solomont chose to support Obama after Kerry withdrew from the race this week.

Solomont helped raise $35million just in New England for the Kerry for President campaign.

This is a major coup for the Obama camp, because Solomon also has links to Bill Richardson who has also thrown his hat into the ring.

Obama might have struggled to compete with the fundraising capabilities of Clinton and Richardson, so this move will be extremely positive for his campaign.

It certainly will make his decision on February 10 that little bit easier.