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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Three "on the ground" pieces.

Both the WaPo and NYTimes look at the Obama groundgame.

And, a (pretty funny from my side) NYTimes article with tons of GOP figures complaining about the McCain campaign.

posted by mikevotes at 8:00 AM

4 Comments:

  • Mr. McCain’s top advisers have voiced frustration at what they said was an unfair focus by the news media on the rowdy crowds
    Yes, they should be focusing on McCain's increasingly erratic message, Sarah Palin's ethics problems in Alaska, and the overall incompetence of the Bush administration.

    By Blogger Lew Scannon, at 8:55 AM  

  • Yeah. I liked the Tommy Thompson one,

    Asked if he was happy with Mr. McCain’s campaign, (former Republican Wisconsin Governor Tommy) Thompson replied, “No,” and he added, “I don’t know who is.”

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:11 AM  

  • fivethirtyeight.com just went through Troy, OH. They stopped at both candidate's campaign offices. The McCain office was closed for the weekend.

    From the NYT link:
    But [Republican] party strategists said elections were not won by the number of office locations, but by a committed core of voters who cast ballots like clockwork every four years.

    How bloody arrogant!
    The "office locations" are exactly how you create "a committed core of voters". It's like saying that gasoline doesn't make a car move, it's the combustion of that gasoline that propels it, so all we need to do is make sure we have spark and we can forget about filling the tank.

    The Obama campaign is building the Party organisation that will push the Democrats forward for the next two decades, and in most states they are building it from scratch. They are also building an army of volunteers who will have experience for future campaigns.

    The Republicans are resting on their laurels and taking their voters for granted.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 10:46 AM  

  • I just read that. I was contemplating making that a picture of the day, but I figured it would require too much context.

    I think the "office locations" comment probably was valid in 2004 when you had the evangelical folks organizing out of the back rooms of churches (unofficial offices,) but this year that's not happening.

    Plus, what do you expect them to say?

    .....

    And, I'm not completely sold yet on the "building the Party organisation that will push the Democrats forward for the next two decades."

    We'll have to wait and see. To me, the key is not so much the formal structures, but how the individuals end up feeling about an Obama presidency.

    That huge bulge in active and engaged youth vote could remain a huge demographic for decades (especially combined with growing minority numbers), but all of that is predicated on supporters getting a rewarding experience out of an Obama presidency, and that's not yet guaranteed.

    The GOP sees this and will try to block and tear down Obama ever more harshly than they did Clinton.

    The potential is there, but that kind of judgment feels way out in front of now.

    (The grass roots structures are valuable, but if people become disillusioned or don't show up....)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:59 AM  

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