State Democratic leaders say fewer tickets sold for this year's Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner and the lack of a national candidate as speaker at the dinner don't mean national Democrats are writing off West Virginia this year.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - State Democratic leaders say fewer tickets sold for this year's Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner and the lack of a national candidate as speaker at the dinner don't mean national Democrats are writing off West Virginia this year.
As of Thursday, the state Democratic Party was closing in on 1,500 tickets sold for Saturday's dinner at the Charleston Civic Center, according to Tom Vogel, state coordinator for the Campaign for Change. The dinner features Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
That's less than half the tickets sold for last year's dinner, which featured former President Bill Clinton, and more than 700 below the 2006 dinner keynoted by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
State Democratic chairman Nick Casey said that although everyone would have liked Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, or Sen. Joe Biden, his running mate, at the dinner, that doesn't make or break the Obama campaign in the state.
Casey said the reality is that the candidates on the presidential ticket are in great demand all over the country, and have to prioritize their campaign stops to create the maximum impact.
"Everybody would love to have the candidates all the time, every day," he said.
He said no one should interpret the candidates' no-shows Saturday as evidence that the Obama campaign is writing off West Virginia - or vice versa.
"We're not forgotten and they're not throwing us out," he said, "but there's different priorities at different moments in a campaign."
Casey said a real sign of the Obama campaign's interest in West Virginia is that the campaign this week authorized hiring additional field workers for the state coordinated campaign.
"The thing I look at is the money they're putting in here," he said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - State Democratic leaders say fewer tickets sold for this year's Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner and the lack of a national candidate as speaker at the dinner don't mean national Democrats are writing off West Virginia this year.
As of Thursday, the state Democratic Party was closing in on 1,500 tickets sold for Saturday's dinner at the Charleston Civic Center, according to Tom Vogel, state coordinator for the Campaign for Change. The dinner features Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
That's less than half the tickets sold for last year's dinner, which featured former President Bill Clinton, and more than 700 below the 2006 dinner keynoted by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
State Democratic chairman Nick Casey said that although everyone would have liked Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, or Sen. Joe Biden, his running mate, at the dinner, that doesn't make or break the Obama campaign in the state.
Casey said the reality is that the candidates on the presidential ticket are in great demand all over the country, and have to prioritize their campaign stops to create the maximum impact.
"Everybody would love to have the candidates all the time, every day," he said.
He said no one should interpret the candidates' no-shows Saturday as evidence that the Obama campaign is writing off West Virginia - or vice versa.
"We're not forgotten and they're not throwing us out," he said, "but there's different priorities at different moments in a campaign."
Casey said a real sign of the Obama campaign's interest in West Virginia is that the campaign this week authorized hiring additional field workers for the state coordinated campaign.
"The thing I look at is the money they're putting in here," he said.
Vogel said the coordinated campaign, which has 22 employees, was authorized this week to hire five more employees, and said they hope to get funding for another five to 15 workers within the next week or two.
"We've got to get the ground game going," he said. "We put in a request yesterday for even more field staff."
Obama lost the West Virginia primary to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in May by a 3-to-1 margin, and he trails Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in published presidential polls, but Vogel said there are encouraging signs for the general election.
"We've been doing a lot of phone calling, and we're finding things aren't as bad in certain areas as we thought it would be," he said. "We're finding lots of undecideds, and undecideds are much better than people who are against you."
Vogel said he also believes bad economic news earlier this week shifted momentum back to the Obama campaign.
"The economy just changed people's attitudes right away," he said.
While Kaine wasn't at the top of the party's wish list for Jefferson-Jackson Day speakers, Vogel said he's sure the party faithful will be in for a great speech on Saturday.
"Tim did a fabulous job in Denver," he said, referring to Kaine's speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.
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With regard with Obama's statement on guns and religion, I do believe that certain callous Republicans in recent elections have exploited well meaning people with red herring issues that grab attention and inspire some people to hit the streets, or take politics to the pulpit. Then they
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When you go to the polls this November, just make a choice that you can be proud of, and can explain to your grandchildren.
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