Draft Obama movement pushes into Iowa

By Ed Tibbets for the Quad-City Times - Davenport, IA

The volunteer group urging U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to run for president has purchased time in Des Moines for a television ad aimed at urging Iowans to encourage an Obama bid.

DraftObama.org, a Maryland-based group with members across the country, announced Friday that it has made a “modest” television advertisement buy in Des Moines.

The ad, called “Believe Again,” has already aired in New Hampshire and Hawaii, where Obama and his family have been vacationing. It also can be seen on the group’s Web site and on the video sharing site, YouTube.

Obama is expected to announce a decision about a bid next month.

Kris Schultz, a spokeswoman for the group, noted Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses and said it has hundreds of supporters in Iowa. The group says it isn’t affiliated with Obama.

The ad will run New Year’s Day.

“We thought it would be a great way to start the new year,” Schultz said.

She said the volunteer group is “carefully targeting” its resources, but it could expand outside Des Moines later.

Obama, if he runs, will join a growing field of Democrats seeking the party’s nomination.

Already, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, have formally said they will run.

Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, tend to lead early nationwide preference polls.

Recent surveys in Iowa have said Obama’s strength here is growing.