Otterblog

Ah, democracy. The smell of it is in the air. A heady mixture of barbecue, promises, and the fumes of all those campaign buses. Close readers of OTTERBLOG know my great love of the state of Iowa, and now we are getting a chance to experience what is old hat out there.

That said, the WAY that Sens. Obama and Clinton are campaigning here is different from what happens in the early states. Less retail, more wholesale. Or maybe less Mom n Pop and more big box. Pick your metaphor. To date, the candidates have kept their appearances along the great Megasprawl known as Charwinsalgreenangle, other than the obligatory stops in Fayetteville, for the whole military thing. You’re not seeing the one-on-one/small towns that’s expected and de rigueur in Iowa and New Hampshire.

As our story today made clear, Obama appears to be trying to look past the primaries and go after McCain already. Clinton, on the other hand, is trying to prevent a stampede, particularly by so-called superdelegates. Her camp seems to be of two minds whether North Carolina is a must-win. Our main political reporter, James Romoser, has all the goods on his blog, Trail Mix.

Clinton will be in Winston-Salem today. We have an interview scheduled with her, and what I think is kind of cool is that we dropped a little box in the paper and online soliciting questions that people would like us to ask her. We’ve received about two dozen, which is pretty impressive. Yeah, there are some inappropriate ones about blue dresses and the like in there, but for the most part, they are thoughtful, policy-related questions asked by voters across a wide spectrum. This is a great example of how the digital and non-digital (analog?) newsrooms work together.

Now, what about Sen. McCain? I’d love him to come to Winston-Salem as well. In the past, neither nominee has campaigned much in North Carolina after the conventions. It’s been sufficiently and reliably Republican that neither candidate has wanted to spend/waste time here (other than those fine debates at WFU...). From a public-policy and journalism standpoint, I would love that to change, but we’ll have to wait and see.