Barack is doing something that I think is remarkably gutsy and smart.
He's gently switching into General Election mode.
Barack Obama will make a campaign stop in Missouri on Tuesday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill has confirmed Obama, the front runner for the Democratic nomination, will visit Cape Girardeau to hold an economic town hall.
Visiting a state that has already held its primary could signal a switch from campaigning for the nomination against Hillary Rodham Clinton to campaigning for the presidency.
McCaskill told the Post-Dispatch that the town hall will focus on "the losses that working people have suffered" under a Republican president.
This is a terrific step. First, it helps cement the media narrative that this election is OVAH, which helps absolutely everyone. As long as Hillary is insisting that she can win, her supporters will be emotionally unavailable. It will impossible to coalesce around the nominee. But showing up in a swing state will help to nudge things along. Further, it energizes his supporters. The 50 state "Vote for Change" campaign began today and with the full might of the 1.5 million people that has signed on to this movement, we could really change the face of the electorate. Giving us a taste for what the general election will make us determined to work that much harder at registering new voters.
But beyond that...it's a chance for Barack to be proactive. He very rarely sets the tone or the agenda for the campaign. This is him asserting his own energy and having others react accordingly.
Anyway, I really approve of this idea. What do others think? (By the way, he is going to be in Kentucky on Tuesday as well, so he is not abandoning the current states, by any means)