Red State Strategy

Hi all--

Here is a post from a fellow volunteer in Massachusetts, Mansi Saboori.

The Red States: The central strategic argument of theObama campaign is flawed. Senator Obama argues thathis success in Democratic primary contests held inlong-time Red States means he will carry those statesin a general election. In reality, there are no “RedStates” in a Democratic primary – there are onlyDemocratic voters who live in Republican states andrepresent a small percentage of the general electionpopulation. Of the eleven core Republican states that have gone tothe polls, Sen. Obama has won ten: Utah, Idaho,Nebraska, North Dakota, Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, SouthCarolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. John Kerry lost eachof these states by fifteen points or more. The last time a Democratic nominee won Utah, Idaho,Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas, and Alaska in thegeneral election was 1964. Even if Obama is “transcendent,” as his campaign hasargued, the historic electoral trends and the currentpolitical environment suggest that translating thoseprimary wins into November success will be close toimpossible. In short: Hillary is better positioned to carry thebattle ground states that Democrats need to win inNovember and Obama’s victories in deep red states donot....hillaryclinton.com