By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Missouri will once again get the full attention of the Republican National Committee this fall.
RNC deputy chairman Frank Donatelli made the announcement at the grand opening of a McCain headquarters in West St. Louis County Thursday.
The announcement isn't surprising, because presidential elections are always close in Missouri. The RNC will provide campaign donations and paid advertisements, and John McCain is expected to campaign here frequently.
McCain narrowly trails Obama in the polls, and has a third of the number of state offices. But Donatelli says the Republicans have better technology and voting data. Even though the RNC won't be able to provide money for statewide races, Donatelli says the technology is more beneficial.
Some of those resources will be directed to middle class Democrats that Donatelli says will be more comfortable with McCain.
"We believe in gun rights. We believe that religion is important, and we believe that people do not hold on to their religion and guns because of economic distress. We believe they don't want higher taxes, and we believe they understand that on foreign policy, Senator McCain is by far the superior choice."
An Obama spokesman says ongoing grassroots outreach will convince those Democrats to remain with their party's candidate.