Super Tuesday Barack Obama Campaign: Supporters Inspiration

Alisa 'Starr' Ballard - Inside of You

Lyrics:

The biggest part of life, is giving back
some of the blessings that were given unto you
Through all of the lessons learn, this is the one
That makes my heart feel the most joy because it's true

Cause there's nothing like, the power of God, Inside of you
Inside of you

Just like seasons change, we do too,
to try to make a better world to be part of
Although it may seem hard, at times to do
Just know that God is always there to guide you through

Cause there's nothing like the power of God, Inside of you

Make a joyful noise, great unto the Lord
Let your light so shine for those who have no faith in you
Move with grace and love, be steadfast and strong
Soon they too will seek the God in them, they see in you

Make a joyful noise, great unto the Lord
Let your light so shine for those who have no faith in you
Move with grace and love, be steadfast and strong
And they too will seek the God in them they see in you

Cause there's nothing like the power of God, Inside of you

Political campaigns play to their strengths, and one realm where Sen. Barack Obama has excelled is the ground game.

When the campaign began one year ago, Obama was far less known nationally than his principal rivals, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards (D-N.C.). Since then, the freshman senator from Illinois has benefited enormously from the work of legions of grass-roots organizers who are giving, heart and soul, to his White House bid.

Obama's successes in the early primaries owe much to the tactics and initiative of young field organizers in places like Estill, S.C., Elko, Nev., and Waterloo, Iowa. Looking ahead to Super Tuesday, where voters in 22 states will choose Democratic delegates, the Obama campaign is again counting on a superior ground game to peel away delegates in very competitive districts.

More than 500 paid staffers have been deployed to the Feb. 5 states, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe reported in a conference call with reporters today. He said the campaign has what it calls 75,000 "active volunteers" making telephone calls, knocking on doors and otherwise helping out.

To show what a difference the organization can make, Plouffe pointed to Saturday's South Carolina primary, where Obama won 44 of 46 counties and more than doubled Clinton's vote totals amid record turnout. He said 13,000 volunteers reported for duty on Election Day.

That works out to one volunteer for every 23 voters who cast a ballot for Obama.

"This is a place," Plouffe told reporters, referring to the ground game, "where I think we have a dominant advantage."

With vast territory to work and only seven days left, strategists for the surviving candidates are racing to decide how to apportion the campaign's money and time, not to mention the energy of the candidates and their surrogates. Plouffe said the Obama camp is now running radio or television ads in all 22 Feb. 5 states, except Illinois, where a recent poll shows Obama leading Clinton by a 2 to 1 margin.

Although polls show Obama trailing in some of the biggest Feb. 5 states, Plouffe said the Obama campaign has raised $5 million online since the South Carolina polls closed. The campaign says it has registered more than 600,000 donors so far, with fewer than 3 percent having contributed the maximum allowable amount.

Surrogates are on the air for Obama in their own states, including Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri, Sen. Kent Conrad in North Dakota and Gov. Janet Napolitano in Arizona. Advertisements with other prominent supporters are in the works, Plouffe said.

An example of Obama's unorthodox decision to deploy organizers to unlikely states is Kansas, where he visited his grandparents' home town of El Dorado today and picked up the endorsement of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a popular two-term governor known for working with Republicans -- at least the ones she was unable to persuade to switch parties. Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, now a Democrat, is a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party.

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