At DNC, Kentucky Democrats get a (bourbon-like) shot of Obama campaign strategy

CHARLOTTE — President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign will rely on its grassroots efforts to lock up key swing states on Nov. 6. And one top-ranking campaign official told Kentucky Democrats that Republican Mitt Romney’s ground game pales in comparison.

At the Kentucky delegation breakfast on Wednesday, those Democrats heard from Jeremy Bird, the Obama campaign’s national field director, and Matthew Barzun, the Louisville businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Sweden who is now Obama’s national fundraising chairman. Both offered an inside peek into the Obama campaign’s strategy. And Barzun even added his own Kentucky twist.

The speakers also included Donna Brazile, the Democratic strategist and political talk show regular. She fired up the partisan crowd by praising Obama and chastising Republicans for blaming the debt on Obama. And she offered this contrast between Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney: “He’s a fine gentleman. If you want an accountant, hire him. But if you want a president, re-hire the one we have,” she said.

Here are the highlights of what the Kentucky Democrats heard this week from the lineup of national speakers: