If the Obama campaign was really looking for grassroots voter registration and “mobilization”, it’d be focusing on the non-Metropolitan areas of the state. Instead, they’re going for the two areas of the state that tend to vote primarily along liberal/Democrat lines. That being said, when the votes of those two cities are tallied, they have enough of a voting population to often be just enough to gain a majority on thier own, over the rest of the state. If you’re looking for grassroots support, I’d think you’d be trying to woo new people, not continue to preach to a choir. But it’s not as PR savvy to say you’re going out to shore up your support in areas you know you already have general approval by making sure more of them are registered.

I’m reminded of Louisiana. When national elections come along, Democrats focus on New Orleans (which has around a quarter of the state population and leans Democratic and liberal) primarily and leave much of the northern part of the state alone.

If you’re really looking to win support, why not go into the wild, eh? Do some new exploration, get truly grassroots.

I am a Obama supporter, in the St. Louis area, and although I agree with you, Logus, i have to say, it’s easier to get the people in your core areas registered and then have them expand down to the “wild” to get your grassroots campaigns off the ground running. Me personally, I know I’ll be helping in any of the Southern MO towns I can get to once all this democratic bickering has ended.

Heh, Kelly, as strongly conservative as some areas of rural Missouri are, I think you might be hard pressed to gain a significant amount of new voters that’d support Obama outside of Columbia and Jefferson City. You might get people to register, but there might be some beligerence towards supporting such a leftward leaning candidate as Obama is.

… and on an aside… I can\’t stand this new format… gets nit-picky… says I should slow down… posting too fast!!!! Post Dispatch, this is a stupid “upgrade”.

While I can agree with some of the ideas here, I think a bigger reason voter registration drives are often centered in cities is because that population is more mobile (they move more) and has a lower registration rate. Why go into rural Missouri and register one person when you can go to an urban area and register 10?
Perhaps they should consider Springfield though, that city is getting more democratic by the day. Probably due to shame in what they produced for a Governor.

Again, Logus, I do agree with you. There are conservative areas that are not going to have a significant amount of new voters- alternatively, you have campus’s all over MO that are pressing politics right now. You are talking about tons of students that are really seeing what their futures are looking like and realizing that it is important. It’s interesting to me also that this drive is happening right when most of our schools will be letting out and the kids from all over MO, and highly centered in our two main cities, will be returning home.

Three things. One, every election year politicians try to appeal to younger voters and so many say they’re going to vote, then come election day, most sleep in. Two, of course they’re going to go after cities because of more access to population, thus making registration drives more worthwhile to those efforting it. Third, as most universities are havens for liberal thought and young minds are naive and maleable, it’s not surprising that Democrats and liberals would go after collegiates.

Logus–yeah–your opinion that the college students are “malleable.” Another perspective might be that they are simply more “open” to new ideas and opposed to the status quo.

I think it’s hysterical how so many conservatives seem to be running a bit scared now that they are realizing that change may truly be coming. Over the past few months, I have hard-core conservatives with whom I work DEFENDING Hillary Clinton (!)–that alone tells me that Obama is on to something and has struck a nerve with right-wingers.

I hope that young voters blow this thing out of the water and send a message to Dubya/McCain/Rove and all of the neo-con know it alls this Fall.

Somehow I doubt they will encourage any conservative youngins to register. I may wander down there and see how they are doing things. I noticed HRC dodged the youth registration this go around because they weren’t her supporters.

Gee, I can not IMAGINE why Barack wouldn’t solicit the assistance of ACORN for this voter registration drive.

They’ve been so successful over the years, and have NEVER operated in a questionable manner!