In Iowa, signs that Obama never really left (he will be in Iowa Wednesday)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10615591

Published Tuesday April 21, 2009
In Iowa, signs that Obama never really left
BY MIKE GLOVER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — President Barack Obama’s trip to the state that launched him toward the White House is being billed as a return visit. But in fact he never really left.

In Iowa, there are signs everywhere of the organization he’s building for his re-election campaign in 2012.

The massive field operation that lifted Obama to his surprise win in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses last year is revving up.

Earlier this spring, the president activated his grass-roots campaign apparatus, Organizing for America. The group is holding town-hall meetings across Iowa beginning this week, including events in Cedar Rapids and college towns such as Grinnell and Cedar Falls, which voted heavily for Obama in the caucuses.

“There’s still a lot of excitement out there. There’s a feeling that what we worked for in the election can happen right now,’’ said Derek Eadon, who worked for Obama during the primary and general election campaigns. “We look for volunteers everywhere. It’s something we did on the campaign as well. We will start branching out and this is absolutely ongoing.’’


In this Nov. 6, 2007 file photo, then-Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama speaks at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Eadon is Iowa field organizer for Organizing for America, which is technically financed by the Democratic National Committee but run by Obama.

The president makes his first trip to Iowa since the election for an Earth Day tour Wednesday of a former Maytag Corp., factory in the small community of Newton. The town suffered a huge economic blow when its biggest employer was sold and then closed its operations, but it responded by attracting two wind energy manufacturers. One company is bringing green technology to a cavernous building that once produced washers, refrigerators and dryers.

Obama hopes to use the trip to argue that the nation’s manufacturing base can be revitalized by focusing on alternative energy sources.

FULL story at link.