Campaign Notebook: Turkey Hangover?

What did candidates and campaigns do for the Thanksgiving holiday, and were those activities all politics?

Well, perhaps not all politics, but national holidays are a good chance for campaigns to tout their candidates’ human sides and perhaps a bit of policy as well.

• Former Sen. John Edwards’ presidential campaign did both, taking the chance last week to encourage members of his e-mail list to volunteer at local food banks and highlighting Edwards’ plan to reduce hunger in America, part of his continuing “One America” theme.
• Illinois Sen. Barack Obama addressed reports that food pantries were facing shortages and wove the issue of food security into his post-partisan rhetoric, saying via press release “to help address this, we need to stand up to the special interests, bring Republicans and Democrats together, and pass the Farm Bill immediately.”
• New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign took donations of nonperishable foods at her campaign offices nationwide.
• In Minnesota, Senate candidate Mike Ciresi sent holiday greetings to members of his e-mail list, wishing recipients a happy Thanksgiving and expressing gratitude and confidence about the course of the campaign in 2008.

So will there be a hangover from the holiday feast?  At least on the national level, the answer is probably “no” — the Obama campaign chose this morning to announce that afternoon talk-show empress Oprah Winfrey will accompany the Illinois senator on campaign stops in early December, adding her massive name recognition and opinion power to his campaign.

Should be interesting to see how Obama’s rivals respond.