By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Sen. Barack Obama obviously wants to turn red (Republican) states blue (Democratic) in this fall's presidential election. What better place to start than in Missouri, home of Obama loyalist, Sen. Claire McCaskill?
Instead, Obama on Thursday planned to kick off his general election campaign in Virginia. It's been a solid red state in presidential elections since 1964, or two generations of voters.
Missouri, of course, has gone back and forth between Republican and Democratic candidates for decades.
The state went "red" in 2000 and 2004, giving George Bush the nod in those presidential elections.
But here's what ought to be a clincher statistic for Obama: Missourians have picked the winner in every presidential race since 1900 except 1956.
And Obama has some ground to make up in Missouri if he wants to beat John McCain in November.
After all, Obama barely bested Hillary Clinton in Missouri's primary earlier this year, partly thanks to huge vote totals in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.
Obama's trip to Virginia is one attempt to solidify the support of white working-class voters in rural areas.
Missouri has a lot of those kinds of voters, too. Come here, Sen. Obama, and let the wooing begin.
Delicious
Digg
Osama Obama is toast in MO, alphabet
Amnesty McCain will beat him like a rented mule, like LA cops on Rodney, like a drum, etc. etc.
How is he going to get the "clinging to guns and religion" vote? How is he going to tell the guy flying the flag that staying with a guy for twenty years who GD's Amercia, that that means nothing? How is he going to explain to the Veterans in this atate, the Michelle my Belle (aka "America sucks")Obama remark that for the first time in her life she is "proud of America".
Missourians are smart enough to see this guy is a combination of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.