McCain opening Arizona office, Obama not yet

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix) is opening the Southwest Regional Headquarters for his presidential bid in Phoenix on Friday, according to Politico Mafioso. U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Phoenix), who chairs McCain's Arizona campaign, will be appearing to commence the celebration. A celebration of that sort is a long way off for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), however, according to his campaign.

"We're still hiring staff" was the response from the Obama press office, which told PolitickerAZ.com that there are no plans in the immediate future for an Obama Arizona office. "It's still early, though," said the media contact.

McCain's operation is already up and running, and Friday's event only serves to open it officially. Arizona is McCain's home state, and a natural base to coordinate efforts in the bordering swing states of Nevada and New Mexico. Also, while he currently holds a sizeable advantage over Obama here in recent polls, he doesn't want to risk his rival closing the gap.

Obama and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean both favor a 50-state strategy. The Obama campaign and the DNC, whose operations have largely been subsumed under Obama's team's control, is planning to assign anywhere from hundreds to a handful of workers in every state. Dean has maintained the stance that Arizona is winnable for the Democrats in the presidential race, despite the favorite son status of McCain, repeating the statement during his most recent visit in May.

That has yet to translate into action, and, according to the Obama campaign, may not until August or later. For the time being, McCain has Arizona to himself.