Obama’s organizational strength triumphs in Iowa, Minnesota, too
ST. PAUL, Minn. – On Saturday, Nov. 10, 150 Obama supporters gathered in St. Paul to celebrate the official opening of the Minnesota Obama headquarters. Attendees included Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, St. Paul Councilmember-elect Melvin Carter, state representatives Willie Dominguez and John Lesch, state Senator Dick Cohen, Minneapolis Councilmember Robert Lilligren, former mayor of St. Paul Jim Scheibel, and Kim Ellison, wife of Congressman Keith Ellison.
The Minnesota campaign, which has grown to include 13 staff members, has been in the state for just over five weeks, and in that time has held a caucus and grassroots training in St. Paul that drew a crowd of over 400; caucus and grassroots trainings in every congressional district, every week; a coordinated canvass of eight Minnesota cities on a single Saturday where supporters knocked on over 2,500 doors; and individual canvasses every weekend and phonebanks every night. Last week, the campaign welcomed a visit from Obama's wife, Michelle, who spent over an hour at Hope Community in Minneapolis, discussing community organizing efforts with tenants and community members.
While Minnesota supporters gathered in St. Paul on Saturday, that same night in Iowa at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, traditionally a landmark event in the run-up to the caucuses, Barack Obama delivered what the press widely reported was the best speech, and demonstrated the strength of his campaign organization, with Iowa Obama supporters representing one-third of all 9,000 attendees.
As David Yepsen of The Des Moines Register wrote, “The leading Democratic presidential candidates showed up for the Iowa Democratic Party’s big Jefferson Jackson Dinner Saturday night. Five of them gave really good speeches. Barack Obama’s was excellent. It was one of the best of his campaign. The passion he showed should help him close the gap on Hillary Clinton by tipping some undecided caucus-goers his way….Should he win the Iowa caucuses, Saturday’s dinner will be remembered as one of the turning points in his campaign here, a point where he laid down the marker and began closing on Clinton, the national frontrunner.”
