Bush campaign TP today = Dean campaign TP in Iowa

[troublemaker]

I've heard at least ten Republicans this week-end brag about how they are sure to win because their GOTV people are motivated grass-roots volunteers while the Democrats are using paid staff. "They have to pay people to support them!!"

Does that argument sound familiar to anyone?

(I think Howard Dean is a great American; the point of this post is that almost every post-Iowa analysis of the Dean campaign agrees that highly motivated volunteers are full of energy but when push comes to shove on election day are less effective than experienced campaign operatives.)

[KittyWampus]

1. Actually, Kerry Is Fortunate To Have BOTH Paid Staff AND Volunteers

enthusiastic volunteers, might I add.

[troublemaker]

2. No denigration of volunteers intended. They (we) are 90% of the fight.

But on the local management/organization level in the last 48 hours there's nothing like having worked 10 elections before. Iowa Deaniacs were unable to respond to the suddenly changing landscape in the few days before the Iowa caucus because they had been motivated by arguments of inevitablity.

Watch Republicans in FL and OH fall apart under the last mintue stress. They will deny reality until it's too late.

[greenbriar]

3. thats why when I was in MN there was an add

in the classifieds for Republican canvassers

[SharonAnn]

4. Here in Knoxville, the GOP use paid staff and Dems have volunteers

It's in the paper in a front page article, above the fold.

This has been mentioned before here, but I would've thought they could get volunteers to actually, you know, "volunteer".