The Obama camp announced on Wednesday that they were opening 20 offices in Virginia, a state that has voted for the Republican presidential candidate for over four decades and one that gave George W. Bush an easy eight point victory in 2004.

When I heard the news, I half-jokingly asked whether any of those offices was west of Richmond. Turns out they’re a little smarter about Virginia than I’d thought.

Some smart moves –

• Opening offices in the three major colleges towns: Blacksburg, Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.
• Having a presence in southwest Virginia with offices in Bristol and the small hamlet of Castlewood.
• Swamping Hampton Roads, a metro area full of African-Americans (Obama base) and military veterans (McCain base).

Some questionable moves –

• Two offices in Southside? Danville is a sleepy old tobacco town and Martinsville is home to the infamous paper-clip NASCAR circuit and not much else.
• Scant exurban presence — No offices in Loudoun, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Manassas or Henrico?
• Ignoring the black base vote in Petersburg and Emporia and the liberal base vote in Alexandria and Arlington — turnout in these areas will be important.

But on balance, I think opening this many offices is a smart and ambitious move and something they need to do if they have any hope of winning Virginia.

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