WASHINGTON — Barack Obama declared Tuesday night that he has now secured a majority of the elected delegates in his pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination. But just as important as reaching that landmark is the symbolism of where he chose to celebrate it -- in Iowa -- and where he will campaign today -- in Florida.
With a rally in downtown Des Moines after his primary victory in Oregon and his defeat in Kentucky, Obama returned to the state where nearly five months ago he defied expectations and organized his way to his first victory.
In the Iowa contest, he transformed the electorate by mobilizing new and younger voters, a tactic that helped him win in unexpected states and has brought him to the cusp of the nomination.
Now, with a three-day swing through Florida, Obama begins his effort to organize his way to victory in November. Nowhere will that be more daunting than Florida, a Republican-leaning battleground state where Obama has not appeared in public for many months.
"This is a completely new ballgame and a completely different ballgame, and a much more difficult ballgame," said former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who supported Obama's rival for the nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton. "Just because you've organized Democrats in caucuses and primaries, it takes much more than that in a general election."
The extended fight with Clinton helped Obama build volunteer networks and burnish his get-out-the-vote techniques in less populous general-election battleground states, such as Colorado. But winning Florida's 27 Electoral College votes will require him to build his campaign machinery almost from scratch.
Obama, like Clinton, did not compete in the state's disputed January primary, and he lost that vote to Clinton by a wide margin. Clinton appears intent on reminding voters of that -- leaving the primary campaign trail to make three stops today in South Florida. Clinton has insisted that she is in the race until all the votes are counted.
As Obama looks toward the general election, Florida figures prominently in his strategy. Winning the state would do serious damage to the Republican plan for building a majority in the Electoral College, and competing there would force the GOP to spend precious resources in a state that it must win to keep the White House.
In recent days, the Obama campaign has shifted as many as 15 staff members to Florida, launching a massive voter registration drive targeting young people and African Americans.
