Clinton volunteer army ramps up for absentee votes in California: "firewall" against NH, Iowa

[DeepModem Mom]

San Francisco Chronicle: CAMPAIGN 2008
Clinton volunteer army ramps up in California
They seek absentee votes here before polls open elsewhere
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

They call themselves "HillStars," and they are part of a dedicated campaign army - the "HillCorps."

And with just more than five months until California's Feb. 5 presidential primary, the effort by the campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to organize trained volunteers - 1,000 strong across the state - suggests it is no coincidence that she has amassed a 30-point lead in California over her closest Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

The Democratic front-runner's California grassroots organizing effort has been dubbed by Clinton campaign strategists as the "1,000-20-200" plan. And it will use "the power of the Internet with traditional field methods to create millions of voter contacts leading up to the Feb. 5 primary," according to a 27-page "HillStar" campaign manual obtained by The Chronicle.

The Clinton campaign strategy in California is noteworthy for its scope and for its target - to help her secure the votes of potentially millions of absentee voters in California's rich delegate field before Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire ever weigh in at the polls....Beginning Jan. 7 - when voters can begin to cast absentee ballots in the state - "we have a 29-day election" that starts before the current Jan. 14 schedule for the Iowa caucus and the Jan. 22 New Hampshire primary, ( Averill "Ace" Smith, Clinton's California campaign manager) said. That calls for unprecedented organization and innovation in California to get those voters to the polls, Clinton senior adviser Ann Lewis said in an interview Monday in San Francisco.

For the first serious female presidential candidate, Lewis said, "the power of networks, the growth of social networks, will be the strength of this campaign."

Presidential candidates are lavishing the lion's share of money and attention on early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and some political strategists suggested the efforts by the Clinton campaign to build, train and organize a California bank of 20,000 volunteers is a savvy move. That could help Clinton guard her front-runner status and construct a crucial firewall against Democratic rivals such as Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards - regardless of the results in Iowa and New Hampshire....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/21/MN3GRKSGH.DTL

[cobalt1999]

1. Even her critics have to admit

She knows how to run a nationwide campaign.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

2. ""the power of the Internet with traditional field methods to create millions of voter contacts"...

What does that mean? Email spamming? Lovely...