Obama campaign turns eye to Northwest

While Washington state officials bicker over what day they should schedule next year’s presidential primary to maximize candidate visits, one campaign is trying to jump-start its chances with “open houses” in the Northwest and around the country.

More than a half-dozen volunteers in Spokane and around the Inland Northwest will host the parties Saturday afternoon that will feature a recorded speech by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and a chance to watch a live broadcast of the candidate at a campaign event in Iowa. Click here for local open houses.

Although the election is about 19 months away, the Obama campaign already is seeking volunteers through a want ad in Sunday’s newspaper, and has supporters trying to develop a network in the Inland Northwest.

Some, like Gloria Wood, of Spokane, are making their first venture into politics by hosting an open house.

“I’ve always considered myself to be an independent,” said Wood, who operates an online business out of her south Spokane home. “I picked up his book, ‘The Audacity of Hope,’ and I agree with him down the line … on the need for dialogue, and that we all need to work together.”

Wood went to the campaign Web site and signed up for e-mail updates. A week ago, she said, someone from the campaign called and asked if she’d host an open house. She said OK.

Others, like volunteer coordinator Barbara Calhoun of Clarkston, say they are returning to politics after a long absence.

“I worked on JFK’s and Bobby’s (Kennedy) campaign. But I haven’t been excited since then,” Calhoun said.

Most years, the presidential campaigns don’t even seem to care about Eastern Washington and North Idaho, she added.

Washington state has long tried to find a more prominent spot in the early stages of the presidential selection process. After a 1989 initiative forced the Legislature to enact a May presidential primary, the state has moved that election earlier into each campaign cycle as a way to attract candidates and avoid holding the vote after the nominees have already been picked in other states’ contests.

Last week, state officials and party leaders deadlocked on a new primary date, and party officials can’t say how, if at all, they will use primary results in selecting their delegates. Both Democrats and Republicans have insisted on selecting some or all of their delegates through the caucus process, which they say energizes party regulars and draws new volunteers.

The Obama open houses may be a signal that candidates won’t wait for the traditional system like the caucuses and the primary to build a network of supporters. In 2004, Democrat Howard Dean had a similar strategy that used the Internet to help schedule “meet ups” that brought volunteers together in cities all over the country.

Jen Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman, said volunteers who signed up to host the Community Kickoff open house parties on the campaign Web site are being sent a DVD with information about the candidate and his wife and video footage of his announcement speech. Most parties will start at noon, Pacific time, and at 1 p.m. participants will be able to watch Obama at a house party in Onawa, Iowa, where he’s campaigning for that state’s presidential caucuses.

House parties without Internet access will be able to listen through a telephone conference call, Psaki said. People who can’t find a party close to them can watch Obama on the campaign Web site, www.barackobama.com

“I think they feel that they really got to get a foot in the door,” said Ruth Robbins of Liberty Lake.

Robbins, a journalist who works for an online sports magazine focused on the University of Washington, is trying to rearrange her schedule to host a house party on Saturday. She said she views this as a chance to get back into the political process

“My father was a civil rights activist. I was brought up carrying a sign protesting grapes and helping Cesar Chavez at age 8,” Robbins said

She received inquiries about the party from North Idaho as well as Spokane, and she disagrees with people who argue it’s too early for presidential candidates to be campaigning or voters to be paying attention to the 2008 election.

“I think anybody who cares about their country should get involved now,” Robbins said.