US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would campaign in states taken by Republicans in the 2004 presidential elections with an aim at influencing local elections, said a political website report on Wednesday.
Citing Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, the Politico report said that apart from the 15 states the Illinois Senator thought he could win in the November general elections, he would also devote some resources in campaigning largely in the 14 states that George W. Bush won during his re-election.
The unusual move carries a goal to help Democrats pick up more congressional seats in specific local contests by pushing for more registered Democrats and turnout on the election day, according to the report.
Texas and Wyoming were pointed out specifically by Hildebrand as states "we might not be able to win, but we want to pay a lot of attention to" because "it's one of the most important redistricting opportunities in the country."
Winning five more seats in each of two floors, Texas Democrats can take over the dominance at the state Legislature. In Wyoming, Democrat Gary Trauner launched the second bid for the state's sole congressional seat this year.
However, Hildebrand noted that Obama's goal in the unfavorable states would be achieved through massive volunteer and technological resources, not costly television advertising.
On Obama's expanded campaign map, McCain's spokesman Brian Rogers told the Politico it is revealing Barack is "so weak in traditional Democratic targets such as West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida, not to mention his ongoing problems in Pennsylvania and Ohio."
If Obama succeeds in his bid to become the country's first African-American president, a powerful majority of Democrats in Congress or local legislatures would benefit his administration.
"New president along is not enough," he wrote in a message to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last week. "I've served long enough in the US Senate to know that Washington must change, and I also know that big changes don't happen without big Senate majorities."
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2008)
