It’s a dramatically different scene from four years ago, when Obama set his course for the White House by beating John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton after months of intense campaigning in Iowa.
Obama can coast as far as this year’s nomination is concerned. But Iowa remains a general election swing state, and no one assumes his 9-point win here over John McCain in 2008 will give him a cushion next November.
Obama’s campaign never entirely left Iowa or several other competitive states, where he hopes relentless organizing can overcome a weak economy and his mixed record of fulfilling campaign pledges in the face of strong GOP opposition in Congress. Thousands of volunteers flocked to Obama’s 2008 campaign; this time he’s having to work to energize them.
“People say, ‘The mood is different this time, it’s not the same,’ ’’ said Peggy Whitworth, an Obama volunteer in Cedar Rapids. “Well of course it’s not the same. But it’s not about mood or feeling. It’s about the future of the country.’’
Whitworth, 69, said she joins other Obama volunteers four hours every Tuesday night, and sometimes on other evenings as well, to telephone potential supporters. Many who answer say they will vote for Obama again, she said, and some volunteer to help the campaign. But some are disappointed or angry that the president fell short on campaign promises such as ending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and bringing a greater spirit of bipartisanship to Washington.
“Sometimes they simply want to have someone listen to them,’’ Whitworth said. Most say they will stick with Obama after they have had a chance to vent their frustrations, she said.
Obama lacks some key advantages he enjoyed in 2008. Those include a deeply unpopular GOP president who was largely blamed for a faltering economy and a widespread excitement about Obama’s precedent-breaking campaign built on “hope and change.’’
However, he now has the power of the presidency and a well-oiled political organization that has been refining its practices for five years. Obama will raise many millions of dollars, although his eventual Republican opponent may do nearly as well.
Nowhere does Obama have a bigger base to build on than in Iowa, where he campaigned for months in 2007. GOP contenders have not made comparable efforts.
In a tortoise-versus-hare strategy, Obama supporters hope their steady chugging will build support precinct by precinct, town by town, while Republicans spend resources chasing the nomination for a few more weeks or months. The Republican candidates and their broadcast ads are flooding Iowa this week, but they will abruptly shift to New Hampshire the day after the Iowa caucuses.
