Last week we learned that the Obama campaign will be doubling its presence in Indiana in an effort to win there. This week, we have more details about the campaign's ground game in another neighboring state -- Missouri.

According to the Kansas City Star, Obama will have 150 paid staffers in 30 field offices across the Show Me State. Missouri has already been the focus of an early advertising by both Obama and McCain, but in terms of boots on the ground, Obama will have a clear advantage, reports the paper:

The Democrat’s campaign said Tuesday it is tripling its paid staff — to an unprecedented 150 workers, who will fan out from 30 field offices across the state, from West Plains to Maryville.

“It’s unheard of,” veteran Democratic worker Woody Overton of Kansas City said of the effort and expenditure. [...]

Building grassroots, neighbor-to-neighbor networks can be the most powerful means of advertising, easily surpassing those ubiquitous 30-second TV ads, Obama’s aides say.

“That’s the best message we’re ever going to get,” said Buffy Wicks, Obama’s lead Missouri operative.

“At the end of the day, Missouri will be won or loss in the margins,” Wicks said. “Field is what gets you over the top. It’s these person-to-person contacts that really give you an edge.”

Obama narrowly won the state in the Democratic primary, and already has 50 staffers in Missouri compared to around 13 working for McCain.

Missouri is sometimes considered a bellwether state. It has voted for all but one of the presidential victors since 1904. Early polling in the state shows McCain with a thin lead.