In blue Vermont and red Utah, a quiet campaign
With Vermont considered a sure bet for the Democrats in the Nov. 4 election, Barack Obama's campaign is exporting volunteers from the state in hopes of putting them to better use elsewhere.
In Utah, by contrast, it's Republican John McCain's campaign that's resting easy and asking volunteers to make visits or phone calls to other states — Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico — where the race is tighter.
Battleground states, these are not: In ultra-blue Vermont and deep-red Utah, the White House hopefuls aren't putting up much of a fight. Their meager electoral votes — three in Vermont, five in Utah — already are assumed to be in the vault.
A look at two states largely left behind in the tumult of Campaign '08:
VERMONT
In tiny Vermont — population 608,827 — it isn't hard to tell which way the wind blows.
It's the home state of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, where Democrats control both houses of the state Legislature, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist and Bush-bashing is an all-season sport.
So are Obama stickers and merchandise, including the $38 Obama T-shirts being sold by Urban Outfitters on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace. "We can't keep them in the store," said store manager Rene McCullough.
McCain merchandise? Not so much, unless you want a "McCan't" coffee mug.
The GOP candidate doesn't have a campaign office or paid staff in Vermont, and his supporters here are either being dispatched to New Hampshire or put to work phoning that state's voters.
"We are trying to facilitate getting Vermonters excited about the campaign and turning them loose in New Hampshire," said volunteer coordinator Carl Ettlinger.
Obama has three offices in Vermont, and while there's no shortage of activity in them, much of it looks east. On Wednesday, two middle-aged women who walked in offering to volunteer were asked if they wanted to spend a day in New Hampshire.
They said no thanks.
An Obama campaign spokeswoman, Gannet Tseggai, insists Obama's people are working for every vote in Vermont.
"We'd like to get our word out to New Hampshire voters as well," said Tseggai.
George Schiavone, 68, a Republican national committeeman, says some party members who winter in Florida are headed south early this year — to help with the McCain effort there.
"They say, 'We're not going to do any good in Vermont, so we're going to Florida, that's where we can do some good,"' said Schiavone.
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