Iowa Too Important? Obama Wonders If Ohio And Florida Carry Too Much Clout

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A lot of people who don't live in Iowa seem to be saying the rural prairie state carries too much clout in presidential politics with its quadrennial candidate-winnowing caucuses. But Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- who is leading in the Iowa polls -- has wondered aloud if key swing states Ohio and Florida get too much attention after the major party nominees are chosen. It is a fact that in 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2004, Ohio and Florida were the big battlegrounds. In 2004, President Bush and John Kerry seemed to be somewhere in Ohio every week, and they appeared ready to apply for residency, or start wearing sweater vests if it would give them an edge. It is widely believed by political strategists of all stripes that a candidate probably cannot reach the White House without carrying Ohio.

Democrat Obama told an Iowa audience earlier this week that a presidential campaign should be fought across more states than Ohio and Florida, because doing so creates a risk an election can be stolen. He decried the focus on the two. He did not say the 2000 or 2004 elections were stolen, but his comment could be viewed as feeding off suspicion among numerous Democrats that something must have gone terribly awry to put Bush in office. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Obama would build a coalition of Dems, Republicans and independents nationally. That coalition would lessen his need to rely on votes from Ohio and Florida.

"We aren't going to have 47 percent on one side, 47 percent on the other side, 5 percent in the middle and they all live in Ohio and Florida and you only campaign in two states."

He also sounded like he would wage trench warfare if there was any suspicion of voter fraud.

"If for any reason this thing is close, we will fight it tooth and nail till the end. The nice thing is, I'm a voting rights attorney as well as civil rights attorney."

Ohio's Xavier University: Shipping Fresh Recruits To Iowa's Front Lines

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Some 50 Xavier University political science students are heading to Iowa on a bus chartered by the Jesuit school so they can get a taste of what it is like to work on a presidential campaign. The students have already signed up as volunteers for the GOP and Democratic candidates now scrambling around the caucus state. Xavier plans to pay lodging expenses for a few days, and has helped its students land seats to watch Saturday night's Democratic debate.

Some pros are joining the group. Maggie Nafziger, executive of the Hamilton County Republican Party, will be with the XU volunteers. So will Brendon Cull, 2004 spokesman for the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign in Ohio. Cull is an XU product and was the chief of staff for Cincinnati's former mayor, Democrat Charlie Luken. Another Cincinnati area political activist, Jeff Cramerding, will be there, too. Cramerding is the executive director of the Charter Committee, an independent third party that holds two City Council seats in Cincinnati and has been a force in local politics since the 1920.

There will be a student-run blog covering the campaigning at HANSOGGATT Blogspot, and Cincinnati journalist Joe Wessels plans to report about the students, too.

The students have been taking a course, Presidential Campaigns 1960-2008, that examines what it takes to reach the White House. The Iowa trip will move beyond classroom discussion and show how things actually work in the field. The Xavier University online portal is here, and some of the material from the students probably will end up becoming a news story on the site.

Hillary's Iowa Spokesman: She Can Succeed Here Without Winning

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Polls show Sen. Hillary Clinton is slightly behind -- though statistically tied -- with Barack Obama in Iowa and the caucuses just six weeks away. Now her campaign is scrambling to beef up staff in that state, and her spokesman says "coming in first" isn't the Clinton camp's definition of success. While Hillary clearly is outwardly pressing for victory, the comment looks to be an early signal that a finish somewhere near the top would be spun as a win for the New York senator.

Mark Daley, Clinton's Iowa communications director, is not a novice mouthpiece. He was the spokesman for the state Democratic Party, so he knows that words have meaning and every political utterance is closely scrutinized after it emerges from the hothouse atmosphere of a presidential campaign. So it was a bit of a surprise to read that Daley told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jennifer Hunter that the campaign recognizes Clinton may not triumph in Iowa. Hunter buried the comment in the 13th paragraph of a 17-paragraph piece published today. It was pretty much unnoticed. But here's what the Clinton Iowa communications director is quoted as saying:

"Our definition of success doesn't necessarily mean coming in first. As long as we have a strong showing on caucus night."

Others might be pardoned for thinking otherwise. Clinton has been the front-runner across the U.S., and is largely viewed as the presumptive nominee. Now her own campaign spokesman contends she can be successful without winning? Daley also is pointing out that Obama has built-in advantages -- he comes from Illinois which is next door and shares TV markets with Iowa.

"We're running against a guy from a neighboring state who shares media markets with the state."