Obama Headed for North Dakota April 4

Well, at least I won't have to miss Steve's wedding...

No wonder I couldn't find any confirmation of Senator Obama's April 4 visit to South Dakota. A sharp-eyed reader who missed out on tickets to the big Obama speech in Montana on April 5 forwards me this article* from the Grand Forks Herald, which announces that Obama is coming to Grand Forks, North Dakota, on April 4 to keynote the ND Dem-NPL convention. (He speaks at 5:30 p.m. at the Alerus Center -- tickets free, 20,000 seats available.)

North Dakota. North Dakota. Arrgghh! Even our neighbors in Montana can't keep North and South Dakota straight.

Memo to the Obama campaign: North Dakota already had its caucus. South Dakota has the June 3 primary. Make a swing through South Dakota, seal the deal!

But for those of you looking for some positive Obama spin out of the North Dakota Dem-NPL convention appearance, try this: If Obama doesn't stand to gain delegates with another ND trip, what's his motive? The Grand Forks Herald report suggests he could be playing a little November long ball and maybe even reaching out to help the North Dakota Dems:

A Survey USA poll released early this month showed Obama beating John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, in the state’s general election 46 percent to 42 percent, just barely inside the poll’s margin of sampling error.

Survey USA is a nonpartisan polling firm that conducts surveys for media and other organizations. That same poll showed McCain beating Clinton 54 percent to 35 percent. Many respondents were undecided on both questions.

While the Survey USA poll’s not definitive, [state Dems director Jamie] Selzler said, it does show Obama has at least a decent chance of breaking the GOP’s 44-year hold on the state’s Electoral College votes.

Perhaps more important, Selzler said, Obama could help energize turnout for the party’s legislative candidates lower down on the ticket. Republicans hold a three-seat majority in North Dakota’s state Senate and a 15-seat lead in the state House. With a heavy turnout, Selzler said, he thinks the party has a good chance of taking a Senate majority and a decent chance of taking the House.

“Part of it’s the candidates, part of it’s the (political) atmosphere,” he said. “In the end, what matters is we’re winning. That’s what counts at the end of the day" [Joseph Marks, "Obama to Visit GF," Grand Forks Herald, 2008.03.20].

Even if he's not coming to South Dakota (yet!), Obama's trip to North Dakota well after its caucus is more evidence that he's not just looking for delegates, but that he's out to serve the whole party and the whole country.

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*Whoops! Sorry -- the Grand Forks Herald requires registration. For more on the story, see the following:

1. The ND Dems-GPL blog, which quotes Obama as saying he looks forward to "working with the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party to strengthen our party and achieve victory in November.” (Note also that the ND Dems-NPL blog appears to be written by actual North Dakotans, unlike the blog claiming to be the official blog of the South Dakota Dems. Oh, the ND Dems also manage to do their blog for free, with Google's Blogger service.)
2. Conservative ND blog Say Anything thinks Survey USA "is vastly overstating" Obama's support in North Dakota. Of course, Say Anything has no evidence that their methodology is off, he just assumes that past Republican strength in ND guarantees perpetual Republican strength in ND. Feel free to contact Rob Port of Say Anything and ask when he'll be gathering current data to support his assertion.