I was having so much fun with the last thread that I didn’t want to create a new one. But I guess we have an election to win, so, FORWARD! I really got a boost out of reading this excellent article about Obama’s superior ground game. You know, as much as I’d like to win this election by twenty points, a small part of me would like to win it narrowly because our community organizers out-hustled the Republicans. I’m still a community organizer at heart, and I’m like anyone else. I don’t like to be disrespected.
The following paragraph says a lot:
Some Republicans admit that the ground game is a weakness for the party. In Colorado, one top GOP consultant who has worked on presidential campaigns told me he mentally added 2 to 4 points to Obama’s polls in the state based on superior organization. In Florida, GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said Republicans would win in other ways: “They’re very organized. They’re very, very organized, and you have to admit they’re very organized,” Diaz-Balart said of the Democrats. “However, I think Republicans are very motivated.
The Republicans are very motivated by greed and racism. The Democrats are very organized around making this country a better place.
I can’t wait to see the OFA do its stuff.
Don’t get too cocky. I think Digby is right to be cautious.
Agreed with Digby.
OFA certainly did a masterful job in 2010!
I don’t think he was on the ballot in 2010. And I’d like to see what president could have succeeded in the environment that existed in 2010. He’s not a political god.
There were a lot of OFA folk from 2008 waiting to participate in a strongly organized GOTV campaign in 2010. That Democratic unity campaign never happened. And…too many Democrats who ran were running away from the President. Almost every Democrat who ran away from the President lost. It was exactly the wrong message to send and it created serious problems in 2010 and the Congress that came out of it.
There are a lot of folks, including me, who hold the DNC leadership responsible for this failure of nerve and party discipline. And for not using OFA to GOTV. The excuse that “Obama wasn’t running in 2010” is a pretty weak one. About as weak as the lefties thinking that their sitting home was what screwed 2010. What it was was a massive failure to change the political conversation on the part of Democrats. Pure political cowardice for some and being sold out for others.
I gather OFA has to be separate from Obama for legal reasons, but the DNC failure has to be placed largely on Obama’s shoulders. Dean got results. Dean fought for Dems. It might not have been perfect but it was robust. Then he was replaced by Obama’s personal pick, Tim Kaine. A pick some Virginia Dems said would be bad and look what happened.
Yeah, there seems to be an assumption in the mainstream that a good ground game is the sole purview of Democrats. But Rachel Maddow had a good spot showing how much some of the numbers have changed from 2008, and many of the notable increases in some crucial areas have been on the side of Republicans. Now some would say they could only improve, given their middling history on that front. But it would be easy to assume that success would fall the Democrat’s way just by osmosis or something. But success only comes through hard work. Even as I work every week on a grassroots level and have high hopes, I am still very cautious. Naivete and a bit of hubris on the part of Democrats could well make for a very, very shocking headline when they wake up on November 7. We have to keep our foot on the gas until the clock runs out. No cruise control allowed.
How can Democrats possibly be MORE organized than they already are?
I was just coming to post that link in response. Reince is doing exactly what Steele did. Nothing. The GOP is totally dependent on outside groups.
I don’t think they have the Religious Right in their pocket any more, so they can’t count on GOTV from that sector to make up for the deficit in their ground game.
I agree with Digby about being aware of the perils of the situation, as this is war, and your enemy will not simply let you beat him down a second time with the same club.
I have confidence in the Obama team they are aware of this, however. The Art of War and all that good stuff. I have heard weeks ago the troops are already gathering, and the maps I’ve seen of comparative field office locations confirms this.
I remember back in 2000 and 2004 that the fundamentalist churches were key to organizing right wing support for GB. I wonder what’s up with the this year? Haven’t heard much, but no news may not be good news in this case.
The preachers are preaching and the church buses are rolling.
But it is not all churches. Which is why the GOP email blasts are still hitting on the Muslim Kenyan nonsense.
It could be Romney’s religion is difficult for many on the hard right to agree with. I have heard several radio evangelical’s state that Mormonism is not a religion, but the C word.
Why do you constantly argue about “self-reliance”? You don’t want people to be self-reliant.
Either way, you want dependence. You just want to be the master; you want to decide their fate. That’s why cons hate universality and egalitarianism. Because under egalitarianism, your model is obsolete, you lose power, and then they truly control their own fate.
2 dimensional thinking? You must think a tow truck tows a car for eternity?
Remember this? Don’t you all miss Sarah?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kp-ClbnrEs
Ohio, where I live, is still a hive of activity, and frankly it’s nearly impossible to watch TV now. Every bit of ad space is devoted to political crossfire, sometimes running the same ad several times per hour. And when the ads are as grim and ugly as these are, it’s just a huge detriment to trying to enjoy a TV program.
In this morning’s local newspaper, there’s a full page ad in the front section, titled “Barack Obama and the Democrats did not inherit the bad economy; they caused it and made it worse”. It shows photos of leading Democrats who created the mortgage collapse, like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Janet Reno, Barney Frank, and then photos of six power plants Obama supposedly shut down.
The ad is so full of Tea Party and GOP talking points that it’s almost comical, but I know it will be passed around the breakfast table and pointed to with angry fingers by those who know that the Democrats are the spawn of Satan. It was paid for by a PAC called Empower Citizens Network, and I don’t know what rock they crawled out from under. But they haven’t given up, and neither can we.
These last days are going to be hell, and I’m grateful to everyone who is fighting in the trenches (with bayonets!) to keep the Dems message alive. I will be out of town for the first time in my life for an Election Day, and of course my absentee ballot has already been sent. Let’s hope it gets counted…
Our OFA group has been working the Dayton area for a few weeks and will be there until election day. Got plenty of bayonets ~ need more horses!
Looks like Colin Powell has decided to officially endorse President Obama. I’m pretty sure I was expecting this, but here we are nonetheless.
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An endorsement with heart and mind!
He has cut himself loose from the Repug talking points, Greenspan exuberance and Neocon deceit. An example for many.
A special story of 93 year-old WWII Vet and early voting.
I lost my best phonebanker here in New England because my Mom has rekindled a romance with an old boyfriend pre-my Dad) and is now in Ohio working the GOTV phones with him!
A 2008 high school reunion in Akron brought them back together when she was an Obama supporter and he was a Clinton supporter.
Ain’t love and OFA grand?!
The ground game will be especially important after Frankenstorm hits.
Might skew the election against seniors and those who are not highly motivated.
http://news.yahoo.com/noaa-east-beware-coming-frankenstorm-171317994.html
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121025/DA24DQPO3.html