Supporters of the two Democratic candidates are busy plotting their last moves in advance of Tuesday’s D.C. primary, targeting the 15 delegates up for grabs in an extremely tight presidential race.
Sen. Barack Obama’s District ground game is well-established with about 2,000 volunteers, a Web site listing upcoming events, wide outreach to enlist additional help and Mayor Adrian Fenty’s political machine propelling the effort. “D.C. for Obama” is a year old, said chair Ian Martinez, and though it was established to tackle out-of-state primaries, the focus now is squarely on the nation’s capital.
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“The good will of the people probably lies with Sen. Obama,” said Martinez, who promised “a lot of visibility” in such hot spots as Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, U Street and H Street. “We’ve just got to get the people to show up and vote.”
Obama snagged the big D.C. endorsement early: Fenty signed on to the campaign last July. Ward 4 D.C. Councilwoman Muriel Bowser followed suit.
Sen. Hillary Clinton unveiled her 102-member D.C. steering committee in early November, a group that has since swelled to about 200 and includes D.C. Council members Mary Cheh, Jack Evans and Jim Graham, former first lady Cora Masters Barry and former D.C. Bar President Pauline Schneider.
“I’m organizing my ward, that’s what I’m doing,” Evans said. “I hope everybody is organizing in their wards to have poll coverage, signage and run a good grass-roots campaign for Hillary Clinton in the District of Columbia.”
The Clinton Web site, however, still does not list the District as one of the “states” with a ground game in place. There does not appear to be an existing list of D.C.-for-Clinton events, nor an online tool for her supporters to volunteer.
“You’re going to see Hillary people all over the city,” said Peter Rosenstein, who also sits on the steering committee.
As for the Republicans, Sen. John McCain has a leg up, having won the D.C. Republican Committee’s straw poll last month. Paul Craney, the committee’s executive director, said the GOP candidates are taking this race seriously as all four — McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul — built enough local support to collect signatures and get their names on the ballot.
