Opportunity — and a possible minefield — in Obama’s Detroit visit

Sen. Barack Obama’s visit to Detroit next Monday brings an opportunity to expand his support in this important electoral state while also creating a potential minefield in dealing with the city’s troubled mayor.

On his third visit to the state in two months, Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will bring his economic message to one of the most struggling states in the nation. He will hold a public event at a yet-to-be-announced time and place and will also attend a high-end fund-raiser.

“The Obama campaign takes nothing for granted,” State Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit, Obama’s campaign co-chair in Michigan, said of Obama’s decision to campaign in a city presumed to be a stronghold for him in November. “He’s decided to come to Detroit because it’s the largest city in the state, and he’s showing he’s committed to campaigning all over state.”

In recent weeks Obama has campaigned in Sterling Heights, Warren, Grand Rapids and Troy.

Continued -Michigan, with its 17 electoral college votes and heavy swing voter population, is viewed as critical to a Democratic victory plan for taking back the White House in November. Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, has campaigned in the state since before the primary in January.

Both candidates are hiring dozens and possibly hundreds of workers to campaign throughout the state, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

Obama’s frequent recent visits to the state seem to be part of a plan to make up for lost time. Along with the other Democratic contenders, Obama skipped campaigning in Michigan during the primary season in response to the state party’s decision to violate national party rules and move its contest ahead in the calendar to Jan. 15.

The visit to Detroit is coming at just the right time, said Angie Gilchrist, a Detroit resident and high school teacher in Warren who volunteers for Obama’s campaign.

“I understand the strategy of going to Oakland County and Macomb County first, because he’s got to pack some of those areas that aren’t heavily Democratic,” she said. “But I think [the Detroit visit] will be a moral lift and sort of like a pep rally with Detroiters in light of what we’ve been seeing with [Mayor] Kwame Kilpatrick.”

The presence of an African-American Democratic mayor who’s been indicted on multiple felony counts creates a potentially sticky situation for Obama. When asked by the Free Press if Kilpatrick had been invited to Obama’s fund-raiser, Doris Rhea of the organizing group Metro Detroiters for Obama said: “I don’t know. He may be on someone’s list. He’s not on mine.”

Just how tricky Kilpatrick’s presence at an Obama event could be became clear last week when the mayor appeared at a rally for the Red Wings after they won the Stanley Cup. Kilpatrick’s brief remarks could barely be heard over the audiences’ booing.

Hunter said Obama’s campaign staff was “very sensitive” to the situation and that Kilpatrick’s woes should have no bearing on the election.

“The presidential election is bigger than Kwame Kilpatrick,” Hunter said. “Kwame Kilpatrick has absolutely no bearing on the success or failure of Barack Obama in the state of Michigan.”

However, he also said the mayor should stay away from the campaign.

“I don’t see where there’s any need for him to be involved in the presidential campaign,” Hunter said. “I think nothing good can come of that.”

Gilchrist agreed, saying Obama should leave the mayor off his invitation list.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for him to invite him,” she said. “I think Kwame is a sitting duck anyway, so who in their right mind would associate themselves? Look at the reaction at the Red Wings crowd.

“Obama’s appearance in Detroit needs to be something like an appearance at Focus: HOPE,” she added. “Give some attention to the people who day to day make Detroit what it is, black and white. Appear on the podium with some of those folks who make it happen for Detroit.”