Party building

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: July 15, 2008

John Kerry surprised Danvillians four years ago when he won the city by a razor-thin margin of 37 votes. It was a stunning change from 2000, when George W. Bush won Danville by 1,206 votes.

It would make sense that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would want to build on what Kerry was able to do in 2004. But there’s nothing to build on. Kerry didn’t have a presence in Danville four years ago.

So what is Obama doing in Virginia this year? He’s trying to win.

“Never, in all the years I have been involved in Democratic politics that I am aware of, has the city of Danville had campaign organizers come to Danville for a Democratic presidential campaign and said, ‘We are here to help you organize, we are opening shop in Danville.’ Never,” said longtime Democratic Party activist Sheila Baynes.

The Obama campaign is using its substantial cash advantage this year to register new voters and establish a network of supporters to get registered voters to the polls on Election Day.

That’s often called party building, and Obama’s doing a lot of it in states where Democrats haven’t traditionally done well.

One explanation for the Obama campaign’s interest in the Dan River Region could be the calendar. Since it’s still early in the campaign, Obama may try to do as much work as possible in places like Danville and then see what the polls say. If Obama is within striking distance down the stretch, his campaign will continue to work on the Dan River Region. If the campaign has no hope of winning Virginia, it will simply move on.

But the fact that the the Democrats are working in Danville today forces Republicans to worry about a region where it was expected to win.

Obama probably won’t win Pittsylvania County and other GOP strongholds around Virginia. But if the Obama campaign can cut its losses in a place like Pittsylvania County — such as getting 42 percent of the vote instead of, say, 30 percent — then it will be close enough for larger “blue” areas such as Northern Virginia to pull Obama over the top.

As the Obama campaign tries to win Virginia’s 13 electoral votes this year, the campaign’s legacy will be the energized volunteers, registered voters and local organizers. The party building work by the Obama campaign in Southside Virginia this year will help Democrats long after this presidential race is history.