News flash: Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has deployed seven paid staff workers to Vermont to help the Illinois senator win the state’s March 4 primary.
Rob Hill, who worked for Obama in New Hampshire and Maine, will head up Team Obama in Vermont and says he plans to open up four storefront offices around the state. No word on whether he's got a TV advertizing budget or whether Barack himself will be dropping by before March 4.
Everybody with streak of punditry in their blood has been saying Vermont is Obama's for the taking, except for Mr. Hill, who protests that Hillary has the upper hand because she's so much better known and hails from the state across the lake.
"I think Clinton has a built-in advantage here and in all of the states remaining on the primary calendar," Hill told me Thursday. "She is so well known ... We’re going to be working to introduce Senator Obama to Vermont voters."¶
The move by Obama was not a surprise, but the number of Obama-ites being parachuted in here is. Just a couple of days ago, Vt. Democratic strategist and Obama supporter Carolyn Dwyer said she thought the campaign would send one, maybe two staffers to Vermont by the weekend.
No word from the Clinton front if she plans a counter move. Billi Gosh of Brookfield, a Clinton supporter and a Vermont Democratic National Committeewoman, told me this week that she has appealed to the campaign to send staff to Vermont.¶
-- Sam Hemingway