Looking ahead to a huge March 4 showdown, Barack Obama has agreed to debate Hillary Rodham Clinton on the UT campus in Austin, Texas.
The event, co-sponsored by CNN and the Texas Democratic Party, is February 21, ahead of the Lone Star State’s hybrid caucus/primary.
The debate agreement comes a few days before the pair goes head-to-head in Cleveland on February 26. Ohio holds its primary March 4, too.
So do Rhode Island and Vermont. Go New England!
The debates in Ohio and Texas show that Obama and Clinton are already moving past the Potomac primary - and Hawaii and Wisconsin February 19.
Despite Barack Obama’s amazing network of support in every state, it would be hard to blame him for focusing most on Texas - the second-most populous state in the U.S. and not one that shapes up well for him.
The Democratic co-frontrunners are already beginning a battle for Texas in residents’ living rooms, launch their first in a series of ads.
On the Republican side, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is focusing all his efforts on Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports.
But while Huckabee is unlikely to stop John McCain regardless, the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remains tight.
The first Texas ad from Obama focuses on a health care plan he vows to sign into law in his first term as president - and criticizes rival Clinton.
His campaign is still flush with cash, and thus, the ad will air in Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Harlingen.
He talks about his mother’s death from cancer and makes a reference to previous promises to reform health care that he says never materialized.
It’s an obvious jab at Hillary Clinton’s theme of being more experienced, though she is not named in the Obama campaign spot.
The focus on health care is a clear nod to strategists who have said the issue is top in the minds of voters in Texas - which ranks last among the states in percentage of its population covered by health insurance.
It also resonates with Hispanics and South Texans, a demographic and region where Barack Obama faces an uphill battle for support.
Of course, the battle for Texas won’t be won on TV alone.
The state might as well be its own continent, notes Josh Berthume of The Texas Blue, and while 227,000 Democrats caucused in Iowa on January 3, the Texas Democratic primary in 2004 drew … 839,000.
The ad buys help, but strength on the ground will be crucial in determining the winner if the race remains close, which you have to expect it will.
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