I snapped that shot of the Columbia, Mo. Obama campaign office last Wednesday during a visit to the battleground state.

I spent several days in the Show Me State last week, talking to voters and getting a feel for the electorate about two months before the big day.

The McCain-Palin ticket stumped through Missouri yesterday, and Sen. Joe Biden is there today on behalf of the Democratic ticket.

A Democratic voter in Columbia got a robo-call yesterday afternoon from a female Obama supporter blasting McCain as not helping the economy.

Listen to the Missouri robocall here.

Here's the text I could transcribe:

Hi this is Tara ... Recently I had to quit my job because of the high cost of gas and day care for my child.

 

John McCain wants to give tax cuts to the wealthy, but it's the middle class families like mine that need help.

 

McCain also supports tax cuts to coprorations that ship American jobs overseas, while we're losing our jobs here at home.

Today in Missouri John McCain said nothing about how he would fix the economy for families like mine.

 

John McCain claims to be the original maverick but he supports George Bush 90 percent of the time.

 

I support Barack Obama and the Democratic ticket because that's the real change we need.

 

Paid for by Campaign for Change ... a project of the Missouri Democratic Party and authorized by Obama for America.

 

Here's my story from today's paper on the swing state:

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. | As Missouri goes, so goes the nation.

It's an easy catchphrase for the ever-battleground Show Me State, but it has never rung more true than this anything-goes election cycle.

From Lee's Summit - where the Republican ticket stumped Monday, to rural Dixon, where a "Veterans for Obama" button draws both cheers and sneers - Missourians are being inundated with reminders their votes matter more than ever.

Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama has come through Missouri six times since June, and his vice-presidential running mate will make two stops there Tuesday.

Republicans captured the state by more than seven percentage points in 2004, but there are hopeful signs for Democrats who are pushing the economy as the top issue.

 

Read the full story here.

—Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter,
The Washington Times

Bookmark my blog at
http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/bellantoni

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