Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat May 10, 2008 at 6:21 PM Pacific

Change the game


Eugene, Oregon - Friday, May 9, 2008

Lost in the discussion about demographics is the fact that throughout this nomination contest, Barack Obama has been unwilling to accept the conventional wisdom about how campaigns are run and elections are won.

I'll admit an initial skepticism to Obama's approach to the electoral map. At the beginning of the race, I didn't think the map could change. The idea of building new coalitions and increasing youth turnout seemed romantic, at best.

Boy, I was wrong. I remember a post by Atrios shortly after Iowa that went something like this: "Obama supporters have a way of telling you: trust us, it'll all work out. And you think they're crazy. And maybe they are. But then it does work out. And you start to say to yourself: maybe they know what their doing."

Well, there's no longer a question about that. Clearly, the Obama campaign knows what it is doing. And that's why it's important that today they announced the official kickoff of Vote for Change, a 50-state (no, not 57...) voter registration drive. The Obama effort to reshape the electorate has no equivalent on the Republican or Democratic sides and is a powerful argument for the Obama candidacy.

Skeptics like Paul Krugman may scoff at the notion of trying to change the game by bringing in new voters to the system. And to be fair, it won't be easy. But given the fact that Democrats haven't won a majority since 1976 when Jimmy Carter won 50.1% of the vote, wouldn't it be crazy not to at least try?

Change the game


Eugene, Oregon - Friday, May 9, 2008

Lost in the discussion about demographics is the fact that throughout this nomination contest, Barack Obama has been unwilling to accept the conventional wisdom about how campaigns are run and elections are won.

I'll admit an initial skepticism to Obama's approach to the electoral map. At the beginning of the race, I didn't think the map could change. The idea of building new coalitions and increasing youth turnout seemed romantic, at best.

Boy, I was wrong. I remember a post by Atrios shortly after Iowa that went something like this: "Obama supporters have a way of telling you: trust us, it'll all work out. And you think they're crazy. And maybe they are. But then it does work out. And you start to say to yourself: maybe they know what their doing."

Well, there's no longer a question about that. Clearly, the Obama campaign knows what it is doing. And that's why it's important that today they announced the official kickoff of Vote for Change, a 50-state (no, not 57...) voter registration drive. The Obama effort to reshape the electorate has no equivalent on the Republican or Democratic sides and is a powerful argument for the Obama candidacy.

Skeptics like Paul Krugman may scoff at the notion of trying to change the game by bringing in new voters to the system. And to be fair, it won't be easy. But given the fact that Democrats haven't won a majority since 1976 when Jimmy Carter won 50.1% of the vote, wouldn't it be crazy not to at least try?

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