OBAMA REACHES OUT TO MINORITIES

WASHINGTON - The Obama reelection campaign has announced a major voter outreach project that will target Blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, women, young people, and gays.

According to the Pew Research Center ninety-five percent of Blacks voters, 67 percent of Latinos and 62 percent of Asian-Americans went for Obama over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008. The outreach project is looking to retain those numbers with 'Project Vote."

A statement from Obama for America said the campaign will combine grassroots organizing with digital outreach and voter registration to "expand the electorate" and "maximize participation from crucial constituencies." 

According to The National Journal, the Obama campaign will have to contend with a new slate of voter ID laws and other restrictions at the state level that will affect the very demographic groups Project Vote aims to reach. As many as 12 percent of eligible voters nationwide do not have a government-issued photo ID, and seniors, minorities, low-income voters and students are particularly likely to lack the correct documentation, the Brennan Center for Justice has found.

Obama strategist David Axelrod called the wave of voter ID legislation and other restrictions "calculated strategy" by Republicans to "hold down voter turnout," USA Today reported in June.

"The reality is that Team Obama has lost significant ground with every constituency and they are scrambling to shore up those losses with 'Project Vote,'" Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement.