Ray Malone's Commentary

The media is publishing stories that Obama is doing well in Florida. As a result, they say, he is sending his two best people to Florida to assist in a get out the vote effort.

There are 7 close battleground states. If the current Obama tactics in Florida were working would Obama send his top people to Florida to fix things? If the local staff were improving the situation for Obama and this close state was starting to fall into the Obama column... would the Obama staff be saying .. the local staff is doing great in Forida. They need to be circumvented by other people who will report to Obama?

Are they in fact saying... We have spent 25 million dollars in Florida and our internal polls show it is still a McCain state. And the local Democrat big shots in state headquarters at Tampa and in Miami are sitting on their hands. We have to do something.

They have to be saying, We need to send in the best we have to try to build really good ground game in Florida to get out enough votes to put Florida in the Obama column. The local state party officials are not getting the job done. The county and precinct people are not following their orders. We have to send in someone who can maybe get some local support for Obama.

Obama having his best people in Florida instead of focusing on all the battle ground states says Florida is a big problem for Obama and he has to sacrifice some other close states in order to try to get Florida.

In reality it is way too late for national guys to come in and build a great ground game in Florida. Either the local party officials at the county and precinct level are not for Obama or the state officials are not for obama. .. or both. This situation and response says Obama has a huge Florida problem.

A get out the vote ground game is always a function of the local party and must be put together in early summer and no later than mid summer. For example one has to know who in the auto workers community is enough of an organizer to recruit people to get out the retired auto workers vote in all the counties where large numbers of retired auto workers live. The same is true for the the Jewish community.. Hispanics, Blacks and other groups of like minded voters. It takes local people at the county level to put together a great ground game.

But look at where they are sending the top dogs. They are sending them into Miami and the state headquarters in Tampa. That screams that the local party officials are doing little to try to get out the vote for Obama in Miami and perhaps the state party officials in Tampa are a big part of the problem. What does that say? Someone at this late date has to come in and go around the state party organization so money and workers can be organized in the black precincts of Miami. Do you all remember how angry blacks in Florida were at the fact that Hispanics were now in control of the Democratic party in the Miami area?

What do you think the local party officials reaction will be to having Obama put people in place to go around them. How much Hispanic effort will their be to elect Obama?

What about the state organization in Tampa? Doesn't this say the state Democrat party officials are not doing diddly to get Obama elected? If the problem were just Hispanics in Miami it would be the state party that was asking for help in Miami. Obama would not need a guy at the state level to circumvent the state party organization.

This was likely a very difficult decision. Going around party officials almost assures that the local party will not lift a finger for a candidate. That means access to local party official's records .. voter lists, party workers lists and others will not be shared. If Obama is elected the state party officials will likely be replaced with loyal Obama people. So for Democrat officials in Tampa.. the question is simple... Do you want to retain your position of power and influence or do you want the next president to be Obama? What do you think their answer will be to that question?

Candidates for president think a long time before they try to circumvent the actions or lack thereof of local party officials. They normally only do it when they have no other choice.

The media spin of local Democrat party officials have done a great job in Florida, that is why the National Campaign is putting in its own people to go around them. That makes no sense. Actually the people that report Obama is wining and that is why he is putting in his own people know the truth... But like good little Obamaites they just print what the Obama camp tells them to print with out question.

If this were McCain the story would be McCain in big trouble in Florida. Sends in top national staff in last ditch effort to bi-pass State Party Opposition. But this is Obama so the media tells us Obama is doing well in Florida and is sending in his best national people to help.

The truth is campaigns only circumvent local people in what are very clearly local tasks when the local people are failing to get the job done. If Obama were going to win Florida even with less than effective local party officials he would not go around them with his own people. This just screams that Obama knows he has big organizational problems in Florida and as a result he is falling behind.