Purely anecdotal observation from PA

[spinbaby]

Little Washington here--it's where the far suburbs meet the boonies and will probably go to Hillary. Today for the first time I've noticed activity at Hillary's office around the corner. There are cars parked in front--one of them with a bumper sticker--and I saw an actual person in there when I went by. But it's still pretty lethargic looking compared with the Obama office, which has been a frantic hive of activity with canvassers coming and going, door hangers being assembled, and phone calls going on. It baffles me that we've seen so little activity down there--either they're keeping entirely different hours, working from somewhere else, or maybe they just don't have many volunteers. I know Clinton support is high here and there are a fair number of yard signs.

[livetohike]

1. Kind of related maybe but I just read in the P-G that Bill Clinton

spoke in Millvale today to a crowd of 300 people. That's it. It's a place that was once a Catholic Church. I'm sure more than 300 could fit there. Looks like little interest.

http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/08111/875110-100.stm

[spinbaby]

3. Heck, I would have gone if I'd known

I'm not going to vote for his wife on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean I'd pass up a chance to see Bill.

[spooky3]

6. yes, I find it hard to believe that Pres. Clinton would not have filled every available seat.

I'm not in a small town but he sometimes speaks near where I work and he packs 'em in every time.

[livetohike]

10. Millvale is right next to the city of Pittsburgh

One could throw a stone and be there.....this is a really low turnout for the area.

[spooky3]

14. Funny, the story didn't report what you asserted - that the place had greater capacity

than the reported crowd. The fact that Millvale is nearby Pittsburgh makes that even harder to believe.

The story reported that he drew "more than 300 people." A lot of numbers are bigger than 300. The most likely scenario is that the reporter looked around the room and estimated the crowd. That says nothing at all about capacity, filled or unfilled seats, or the actual turnout.

Interesting - on Mr. Small's website a capacity of 650 is reported, but that it "is generally a standing room only venue with limited seating, except for special events where specified."

http://www.mrsmalls.com/NewPHP/home.php?section=theatre

Given that attendees were not all going to be people under 30, probably seating was brought in and the audience capacity was reduced. Or given that it was a short speech, maybe they didn't, but maybe there were 600 or so attendees, since the reporter didn't rule that out. It's also possible that the appearance was not announced in advance.

Somehow I think the reporter would have said something if the place seemed half full or even somewhat empty. There just isn't any basis for concluding that there was low turnout.

[livetohike]

17. It was a former Catholic church in a heavily Catholic area

I'm sure 10 people/pew and there were more than 30 pews. I received robocalls when Bill Clinton was 20 miles away from my area last week, so I am assuming (may be wrongly) that people in the town were alerted via robocall. Maybe not enough advance notice :shrug:

Edit to add this: He was in Brookville last week (20 miles from me) and spoke in someone's back yard to a low turnout. I heard this first hand from someone who went to see him.

[Cha]

8. Not me..I wouldn't cross the street..

I drove miles to see Al Gore, though.

[bluestateguy]

2. This is what I suspect about the Clinton voters

They are older and mroe downscale, meaning they have less time to volunteer or go to rallies. Many are also Establishment voters (they will vote how they are told to vote by their Democratic mayor/governor/union boss). While the Obama people are going to rallies and doing volunteer work for their candidate, the Hillary voters are quietly waiting in their single family houses and apartments to vote on Tuesday.

[bluerum]

12. Nice sterotyping. Keep up the good work.

[bushmeister0]

4. Not that this has anything to do with anything but

there's a guy in Philly who rides up and down the street in front of my job on some sort of three wheeled thing that looks like a pallet-jack with an Obama banner on the handlebars who accosts people walking by about how much he loves Obama. He ain't doing himself or Obama any favors. I could send him up your way if you think that would help Hillary.

[noel711]

5. But Bushy... that little guy on the 3 wheeler riding' around...

ain't that America?

That's what inspiration is all about...
little neighborhood guys on bikes
supporting their candidates...

[bushmeister0]

7. Crazy America, maybe. I don't think this guy's elevater goes to the top floor.

[NC_Nurse]

9. Obama's ground game is MUCH bigger and better than Clinton's. I don't

know how much it will help him in your state, but I think it's made a big difference in many states.

[spinbaby]

11. If this is typical

then no wonder she's behind nationwide. We have very high Hillary support here--I know this for certain because I've been out there canvassing. That lethargic campaign almost makes it seem like they're taking that support for granted. Well, it at least gives us an opening to cut into her numbers.

[NC_Nurse]

13. I just don't think they counted on needing a ground game at all.

It's probably hard to get one going AFTER you realize it will be a factor.

[goclark]

15. This fascinates me because

when Kerry lost to Bush I always wanted to know where were the long, long lines of White voters for Bush.

Kerry was having huge rallies and they would always close in the camera on the Bush campaign stops.

I can't remember seeing a big crowd of anybody.

I remember seeing one clip of Bush wandering around in a suburban Detroit location and there were about 20 people in this large event site.

What I want to see is the outpouring of voters/supporters ~ guess they all vote absentee. That way we are not able to see that there really is no campaign action or many voters.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Obama's ground game has evolved into a force to be reckoned with.