Those of you who are familair with the Southern Political Report know that it is not the most progressive publication out there. As a matter of fact, one of the head honchos was at one time an aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. So, when I saw this article from yesterday, my jaw dropped the floor. According to Tom Baxter, the O-Bomb, as I like to describe Barack Obama's voter registration and mobilization work, is building in a big way for November.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip, didn’t endorse Obama until the last surge of superdelegates began last Tuesday. He’s a crafty politician who got where he is with patience and cool judgment. Here’s what he told an interview in a program broadcast over the weekend on South Carolina ETV:
"I was at an event where we were all watching the returns and when we got to the point that they said that Senator Obama will be making the speech in a few minutes, I went home and sat alone at home to watch it. Because what I was feeling was indescribable and I was afraid I would not be able to control my emotions," Clyburn said.
If an African-American politician as Washington-wise as Clyburn describes his feelings in this way, then we shouldn’t assume that the sharply increased turnout in Democratic presidential primaries across the South this year fully represents Obama’s potential to turn out African-American voters in the fall.
It's a nice anecdotal story, but it is the following paragraph that really got my attention. Watch out for Louisiana.
To realize that potential, Obama has already staked considerable resources in building Vote for Change, the campaign’s voter registration and mobilization drive. Already, in Louisiana, there are reports of parish registrar offices swamped with some 70,000 new applications from a voter drive paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Paid Omama staff have been sighted on the ground in Georgia and Virginia, and virtually everywhere else we checked, the word in most of the state parties is that Obama troops specifically tasked with voter registration are on the way.
Republicans of course are poo-pooing the effectiveness of such a drive for November, but it was part of Karl Rove's 2004 strategy to register conservative church-goers and get them to the polls. He altered the playing field in some states. Now, it's our turn and we have a nominee who is dedidcated to changing the field to our advantage while the Republicans struggle to get their base in line. I just hope that elections officials across the country are ready for it. This may be the DNC's greatest task.