I don't see how McCain can catch up with Obama's ground game like this ... link

[Alhena]

I'll admit that I wasn't sure what the term "ground game" meant in terms of elections and how it mattered. I understand after reading these stories about how Obama's huge network of volunteers has been identifying voters in battleground states who are kind of on the fence about voting for Obama or not. The Obama campaign is making these people feel like royalty, calling them up, giving them love. If you're on the fence, you're going to vote for the campaign that sends people to talk to you and tries to earn your vote. I see no way that McCain can come from behind flying into headwinds like this.

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_10699289

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Lukas McGowan was sitting in an old barber's chair, a cell phone pressed to his ear, as he contemplated a critical assignment for the closing chapter of the presidential campaign: the ground game.
The most pressing matter inside this field office for Sen. Barack Obama was not the next debate or the latest scorching exchange with Sen. John McCain, but getting every possible voter to the polls. As McGowan surveyed an assembly line of activity, a more immediate question popped into his mind: Have all the spots been filled in the 6 to 8 p.m. shift for walking neighborhood precincts?

"When we identify sporadic voters, we want to go back to their house until they can't stand us anymore," said McGowan, 23, who oversees the Obama operation in Fairfax County, Virginia's largest. With a smile, he added, "As long as we're kind and respectful."

...

In Virginia, the voting rolls saw a net gain of more than 300,000 people from January through Oct. 1, with even more believed to have registered in the days leading up to the deadline last Monday. And while voters in Virginia are not allowed to identify their political party, 76 percent of the new voters are 44 or younger, a figure that even Republicans concede favors Obama.

"We're going to have to make sure they turn out, or we probably won't win," said Steve Hildebrand, a deputy campaign manager for Obama. "They'll get extra waves of mail. They'll get extra phone calls. They will be given a lot of love."

- end quote -

This article compares McCain's non-existent ground game, where he has to PAY canvassers to work for him. I hate to say it's over, and we still need to work hard, but it's looking very, very good for us:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/13/mccain_hiring_paid_canvassers.html

[No Passaran]

1. After 2004 I was very depressed

It was another election where we just kept losing House and Senate seats. Then they came up with the 50 state strategy. I am so impressed with Dean and Obama. Dean doesn't get enough credit for changing our fortunes.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. You are right. Howard Dean does deserve a lot of credit for his 50 state strategy.