Second Obama Office Opens in Commonwealth

While Illinois Senator Barack Obama has not yet scheduled a visit to the state of Kentucky this year, his Presidential campaign continues to develop an infrastructure in the state as the May 20 primary approaches.

Yesterday, the grand opening of a second state office drew 400 supporters in Lexington, Polwatchers reports. The campaign opened a Louisville office on March 29 and plans to open additional offices in Paducah, Bowling Green, Pikeville, Covington, and Frankfort in the coming weeks.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Kentucky last month, attending the Ruby Laffoon dinner in Madisonville. Former President Bill Clinton and fellow Hillary surrogate Chelsea Clinton each visited Kentucky in recent weeks. The Clinton campaign still does not have an office in the state, however.

Obama's state campaign director Carolyn Tandy told Polwatchers these contrasting presences in Kentucky represent different approaches to winning the state:

"We believe in bottom-up grassroots campaigning. We have to build the infrastructure first," she said. "It's one thing to have the big names and surrogates come in, but you have to have the infrastructure in place to get out the votes."

The latest statewide Presidential polls from automated polling firm SurveyUSA finds Clinton leading Obama 58 percent to 29 percent in Kentucky. Ten percent of those surveyed selected "other" candidates while 4 percent remain undecided.