Ha! LAT: GOP's "Fractured" GOTV Effort May Give Ds Key Edge

[stopbush]

Conservatives struggle to unify for voter outreach

Republicans and 'tea party' activists have funneled millions into campaign ads. But their get-out-the-vote effort — crucial in the final week — is fractured and may give Democrats an edge.

By Tom Hamburger and Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau

October 26, 2010


With the campaign in its final week, well-funded conservative groups have shifted their focus from the airwaves to voters' phone lines, front doors and mailboxes — part of a get-out-the-vote effort that could tip the scales in tight races across the country. But the push to get the nation's conservative voters to the polls is fractured and untested, with some "tea party" activists refusing to cooperate with more mainstream Republicans, in contrast to the unified and well-organized parallel effort by unions and Democrats, according to key players on both sides.


Up to now, the emphasis on the right has been on television ads, and conservative groups — including American Crossroads, founded in part by GOP strategist Karl Rove — have dominated with the help of undisclosed donors willing to pour millions of dollars into key races. For the final stretch, Crossroads is dedicating $10 million to the "ground game." The conservative Americans for Prosperity expects to spend $17 million, opening field offices in 12 states. Tea party organizers, state parties, antiabortion groups and business associations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have also begun their own get-out-the-vote efforts.

The state parties in Illinois and California, in particular, are well funded and sophisticated, and may surpass voter outreach those states have seen in the past. With money and momentum on their side, Republicans are considered competitive in dozens of districts once thought to be out of reach. But races are tightening, and the voter mobilization program could determine whether the election provides better than average midterm gains for the GOP.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-conservatives-endgame-20101026,0,7304435.story