There’s three weeks left and I’m sure that Barack and Michelle Obama, and Joe Biden have already developed their tentative schedules for the home-stretch. But I want to offer some campaigning suggestions. These are things I’d like to see.
To honor the spirit of the 50-state strategy, I’d like to Obama appear in six states he has basically ignored, but which happen to have senate races: Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. In the same spirit, I’d like to see Obama show some fight in two states where he has an outside chance to peel-off some extra Electoral Votes: Mississippi and Nebraska.
There’s not a lot of time to be campaigning in states where he has little chance of winning, but there are ways to do this that make sense.
Let me demonstrate, moving East to West. Obama and Biden are showing surprising strength in West Virginia, and they should definitely make a campaign stop there in the next three weeks. Obama could make a showing in the most Appalachian district, the third, and then cross the border into Kentucky to do a quick appearance in its fifth district with Bruce Lunsford.
Moving South, Obama could campaign in the Memphis area where Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee meet. He could hit all three states in a single day with relatively little travel. Maybe the Clintons could join him, especially in a West Memphis, Arkansas stop. If Obama is going to win Mississippi, he’s going to have to limit his losses in the state’s northernmost first district. He should show his face and ask for their vote.
There’s no question that Obama will be back in Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. He could combine a trip to Las Cruces with a stop in El Paso, where Hillary Clinton cleaned his clock. If Rick Noriega is going to come from behind and upset John Cornyn, he’ll need a great performance out of the southwestern corner of the state.
Obama is also competing heavily in Missouri. He needs to do very well in Kansas City to win. But half of Kansas City is in Kansas, and any appearance there will get local news coverage in the Show-Me State. Obama should appear on the Kansas side of the border with senate-candidate Jim Slattery.
Obama is competing for the Electoral Vote of Nebraska’s second district. Any media coverage out of Omaha will spill over into Western Iowa. Obama should make a stop there and appear with senate-candidate Scott Kleeb.
It’s harder to find an excuse for Obama to appear in Oklahoma. Perhaps that is a job for Joe Biden. Regardless, with smart scheduling, utilizing spill-over media markets, it’s possible for Obama to help some of our more long-shot Senate candidates without wasting too much time that should be dedicated to battleground states.
Obama could plausibly claim to have campaigned everywhere but Alaska, and to have asked for every vote. And it’s important that he send the message that no candidate, anywhere, is afraid to appear with him. That’s a message that needs to be heard in the South and in the Plains states.
