Top campaign aides to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. — campaign manager David Plouffe and deputy Steve Hildebrand — announced in a telephone conference call this morning that they are finally putting staff on the ground in Missouri.

Mike Dorsey, the campaign’s Midwest political director, will be moved into Missouri as Obama’s state director, Plouffe said.

The move makes Obama the first presidential candidate to post a paid director in Missouri.

The campaign also plans to hold rallies in St. Louis and Columbia next Tuesday as part of a 20-city national circuit of rallies to highlight the 5th anniversary of Obama’s no-war-in-Iraq speech.

Dorsey’s placement is part of the Obama’s campaign preparations for what’s amounting to a national presidential primary on Feb. 5. Missouri and Illinois are among 21 states so far who are planning primaries or caucuses on that date.

The crowd follow the four first states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — where all the campaigns, including Obama, have been focusing their resources and time.

Plouffe said a candidate will need at least $80 million to compete on Feb. 5, and he believes Obama is one of the few who will have it.

He touted Missouri as a “key bellwether,” status the state has had for decades.