Obama sets his sights on Arizona.....

[MindMover]

PHOENIX — President Obama’s re-election campaign is dispatching workers across Arizona’s college campuses and Latino neighborhoods this spring, registering as many new voters as they can in an organized, three-month effort to determine whether they can put this unlikely state into play for Democrats this November.

By any measure the obstacles are considerable: Arizona has voted for precisely one Democratic president since Truman was in the White House. Yet Mr. Obama’s aides said in interviews that they thought it was possible they could move the needle of history by winning in 2012 a state that analysts believe is heading Democratic in national elections, but may not be there yet.

Obama strategists are simply following the same techniques they used in 2008 when putting states like North Carolina and Indiana into play. Then, too, there was much initial skepticism, though both states ended up going for Mr. Obama.

Yet for all those signs of organizing activity — and the fact that demographic and political changes across the West have made this region increasingly tempting ground for Democrats —Mr. Obama’s campaign strategists are not yet convinced he can win the state this November. Mr. Obama’s aides said they closely monitored the organizing here and would assess the result of their work over the next few months to see whether it made sense to pour money and resources into Arizona this fall.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/us/politics/obama-campaign-turns-attention-on-arizona.html?

[freshwest]

1. Could be a long shot, but it might turn the tide for 2014 and Bye Bye Brewer and Joe...

[MindMover]

2. you mean these two....

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6936322624/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6936322624/]crazy-duo-2008-1[/url]

[freshwest]

3. No, I'm speaking of their undead cousins in AZ...

[movonne]

6. I can't believe how many crazies there are in AZ...there a lot of

people that have moved there from more liberal states and the latino's...that is if they don't find a way stop them from voting...

[freshwest]

7. More than likely, the sane people are non-political and a vocal minority of nutsos rule them all.

Last edited Mon Apr 16, 2012, 12:21 AM - Edit history (1)

There are numerous factors that cause people to stay away from the political process other than TV or sports which are usually blamed. Simply not enough hours in the day, family matters, financial burdens, long hours.

[thelordofhell]

4. I think they underestimate the Mormon population in Arizona

With Mitt Romney being the candidate, Southern Utah will come out in droves to vote their guy in.

[msongs]

5. LDS will put all its muscle and $$ behind Romney

[freshwest]

12. Mormons in southern UT can't vote in AZ elections, right?

Or are you terming AZ, southern UT?

Sounds like an empire to me...

Similiar to that Canadian World Domination website a few years back.

That was hilarious...

But I guess we could just as well call Catholic voters part of the Vatican, if we want to cross geographical boundaries for the landscape of the mind.

[KarenS]

8. I really think there must be better places to spend their money,,,,

lots of Republicans and Libertarians not to mention that large Mormon population (that someone else has already pointed out). I've given up on ever being happy on election day here.

[CreekDog]

9. It's a great place to spend money. Clinton won it in 1996, when it was more conservative than now

Obama was within 10 points in 2008, while having a 15 point margin among women nationwide and a 15 point margin statewide among hispanics.

But now the Hispanic population in Arizona is larger than in 2008 and Obama has a 60 point margin among Latinos and a larger margin among women nationwide.

I think your response was more based on what you think Arizona is than based on data about what it really is, in 2012.

(PS-the way you described Arizona could be said about Nevada. the demographics are the same basically, both heavily Mormon...but Obama won Nevada by 12 points in 2008, having turned a 6 point deficit by Kerry into a win...that in this environment Obama could put Arizona in play and not try for it would be foolish)

[jillan]

13. We also elected Democratic Mayors in both Phoenix and Tuscon (2010).

And don't forget that the only reason Brewer got to be governor in the first place is because Janet Napolitano went to go work for this administration.

Yes, we have alot of crazies in our state legislature... but Az is not as red as people think.

[Major Hogwash]

10. Come back in 20 years.

It will be just as full of redneck cowboys and racist pieces of crap then, too.

[DallasNE]

11. This Work Could Be A Boon

For down ballot candidates, if nothing else.

[Slamdrive]

14. No way GOP will win there

They have alianated working-class people especially Latinos there.