Going for Votes in Red America

The Obamessiah campaign is running into a few snags as they seek to open offices in red America:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's winning strategy in Missouri rests on getting votes in rural areas where Republicans traditionally fare better.

When people seeking tickets for today's rally in Springfield showed up Monday afternoon to a shopping center in Nixa where Obama's new Christian County field office is supposed to be, they were greeted by a table and a couple of campaign workers.

The ticket giveaway was held outside because the Obama campaign doesn't actually have the keys to the retail storefront it was promoting as its new Nixa office at 270 W. Mount Vernon St.

In fact, the Obama campaign is not even on the lease -- yet, according to the property's real estate agent.

"We're just waiting for a signature," said Chad Jackson of Heartland Realty in Nixa. "They should be moving in quickly."

Jackson said he "wasn't aware" the campaign used the location to give away tickets.

The only reason this story caught my eye is because I know this town. A friend of mine lives in Nixa and I've visited back there a few times, though not since about 1994. It's about 30 minutes from Branson, and was pretty small the last time I was there. It didn't seem like the type of town that would be a hotbed of Obamessiah fans.

Funny story - one day I was driving with my friend and his mother and we came to the center of town where Nixa's only stoplight was. There were three cars ahead of us waiting for the light to change and my friend's mom said "this traffic is terrible - I've never seen it this bad!".