Obama

Add comment January 2nd, 2008

Barack Obama benefits in Iowa because he’s the senator next door, here in Illinois, so Iowans, especially in the eastern portion of their state, know him well because there are shared Illinois/Iowa media markets in St. Louis, Quincy, the Quad Cities and Dubuque.

But Obama is counting on new caucus-goers to come out and stand in their man’s corner. That’s risky business. Ask Howard Dean. He was the front-runner going into Iowa’s 2004 caucuses, but his 3,000 student volunteers weren’t from Iowa and despite their door-to-door campaiging, they lacked the longtime relationships needed to bring people to the caucus. John Kerry had formed just that kind of relationship with Iowa’s Democratic party establishment, and he won the caucuses of ‘04.