2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHere's Obama's Ground Game - Here's Your Jurassic Park
Last edited Sat Sep 22, 2012, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)
This post has been sparked by an act of vandalism that taught two young girls to fear our political process..to fear the "other side". It was something Id thought of writing for awhile, but outrage over a senseless act has fueled our community, and so here I am to tell you about a small fraction of Obamas Ground Game in 2012, and why we will win this election.
Around September 4th of this year, Jim Messina was quoted in Huffington Post as stating, The Democratic ground game will make 2008 look like Jurassic Park. Referencing the technological innovations that the campaign could bring to voter turnout efforts, Messina added: "This is light-years ahead of where we were in 2008.*
I smiled to myself at the time, knowing what I know has been going on just in my small neighborhood, in my small southern town, in this solidly red state, since May of 2012.
Knoxville, Tennessee has been divided into quadrants, and those quadrants into neighborhoods. We have houses at which volunteers gather daily to make phone calls. On any given Saturday, one can walk into their local Panera Bread and find tables full of volunteers with laptops and fully-charged cell phones, calling into North Carolina. Last week, in West Knoxville alone, there were over ten phone banks.
In North Knoxville, the mailing list is hundreds strong, with new people volunteering daily. And believe me, this part of the south is Bible belt conservative. We may not have hope this year of turning Tennessee blue; but we can and will turn North Carolina blue and deliver that state to President Obama.
Every weekend, cars full of volunteers drive over the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee into our neighboring state. Last weekend, over 70 went. Obama supporters in North Carolina gladly open their hearts and their homes. The volunteers start walking, door-to-door, talking to people about our President gathering more volunteers, registering people to vote. The net widens exponentially every single day. And remember, this has been going on, quietly, since last summer.
You think the North Carolina numbers are just because of the oppositions rolling calamity? I would beg to differ. Slowly, but surely, the troops on the ground are going door-to-door. We are standing by our North Carolina neighbors and saying, We can do this. You have our support. We are here for you, we support you and we love you. We will help you. VOTE! Every single person in North Carolina who expresses an interest in the campaign gets a personal phone call and an email and is welcomed into the effort.
"According to Messina, the campaign will knock on 150 percent more doors than it did in 2008, in addition to registering roughly that many more voters than four years ago. They are also planning a multiplatform digital operation to engage voters during the convention, as well as a "dashboard" that would allow people to organize unregistered voters or those not yet supporting a candidate by using the campaign's own voter lists.
In North Carolina, he added, the campaign had 50 field offices, while the Romney campaign has yet to open its 20th. They are doing more than the McCain campaign, so I want to give them credit for that. But they are nowhere near where we are on the ground," he said. "We are going to be the only campaign that can both persuade voters and turn out our voters because of what we are building on the ground. They just don't have what we have."
But we are not forgetting local candidates. Down-ballot candidates are invited and often show up at our phone banks to talk about their own campaign and distribute literature. One of the most infamous Republicans we hope to defeat in the near future is Stacey Campfield he of the famous Dont Say Gay law in TN, who garnered international attention when he was turned away from the local Bistro restaurant.
Spearheading this massive grassroots effort here is a tireless ball of energy named June Jones. A Community Organizer for Obama for America, in charge of nine counties, one can drive by her house at any given time and see rows of cars in the yard and driveway, colorful signs dotting the landscape. My grandson and I remarked just yesterday what a remarkable location, on a heavily-trafficked street, she had for her enormous Obama yard sign.
Today, I received an email from June with this picture below:
And this message:
If they think I am going to back down, baby it's on!! They might have cut up and destroyed my property but they only strengthened my fight!! Bring it on!!! If you have not been in this movement with Obama for America, this should awaken you to what we are facing. We need you! Its time to be in it to win it.
So on behalf of June and all of the Obama for America volunteers in Knoxville, TN., I say this: If this is the best you can do, youre in trouble. If you think taking a pair of scissors to a sign is going to destroy this ground game, think again. You have just mobilized and energized us even more than before. Our houses will be overflowing, the phone lines will be busy and the cars will be heading across the mountain in numbers that YOU cannot even begin to fathom. Because we are Democrats. Because we love our country. Because we will not resort to violence and destruction to make our case. Because we will spend every waking moment Moving Forward for a better tomorrow. And because we work for Barack Obama, and he IS the President of the United States.
Please post below if you have ground game in your neighborhood or town, and if you refuse to be intimidated by bullies on the other side.
And please, K&R for June and her girls.
(June invites everyone to go to www.barackobama.com and sign up to volunteer and, in the Knoxville area, contact her at [email protected] )
Crossposted at DailyKos
*all Jim Messina quotes from Huffington Post*
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/jim-messina-democratic-convention_n_1854481.html
liberal N proud
(60,332 posts)K Gardner
(14,933 posts)press attention here..because their viewership just wouldn't care.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)I know it is not being contested, but a 7-10 % loss would be an improvement over last time and maybe set the stage for a real effort at that state in 2016 or 2020.
http://today.yougov.com/news/2012/09/21/tennessee/
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)Thank you !
rsweets
(307 posts)Wed. First time I have volunteered for any political
candidate.
...and this just got me Fired UP
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)Yes, I received a personal phone call from an organizer and later a sit down meeting since we kept missing each other at events (and he is from TN!). The ground game will crush in Mecklenburg County. Voters are motivated and engaged and there are lots of volunteers on the ground. Not sure how rural areas are looking. I guess the plan is to post such huge Dem numbers in the urban areas that they overwhelm the conservative rural areas. I am cautiously optimistic.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)Thank you !
mwooldri
(10,299 posts)Yes, they are conservative.
Sure, in urban areas it is easier to go door-to-door. But because someone lives out "in the sticks" doesn't mean that their door isn't worthy to be knocked upon.
Plus in the longer term working just as hard in the rural areas will pay off. Cannot just abandon the rural areas to the Republicans.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)I live in an urban area, so I don't know how the campaign is looking in rural areas. That was all I was saying
jmondine
(1,649 posts)... of every swing state and re-hang them in geographical order.
66 dmhlt
(1,941 posts)BrainMann1
(460 posts)who do not know how to express themselves. The little girls were being taught one lesson in fearness and now see the other side of expressing good intentions. I'm with you bring it on.
thevoiceofreason
(3,440 posts)My sign was cut with a box cutter, and my neighbor's sign was set on fire. I am the precinct chair, so I have plenty of signs.
Now I'm mad.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)mwooldri
(10,299 posts)Every campaign's policy should be "No Door Left Un-knocked". Get to every house, canvass their vote. TV ads, nice. Mailpieces, yes nice too. But face-to-face is best.
It works even better when your campaign has a set budget that it is allowed to spend. Let's say a limit of 25 cents per registered voter in a particular area. This caps the US Presidential race at $80 million, and a US Congressional race to about $175,000. This is do-able. But it takes volunteers working and door-knocking. It doesn't take a degree of high technology. It takes local know-how.
I can't work a campaign this time around. Next time, maybe. But I do prefer the ground game.
mopinko
(69,990 posts)it brings out voters. it WORKS.
proReality
(1,628 posts)cheezmaka
(737 posts)I JUST came back from canvassing the streets registering people to vote with one group in Detroit, MI for 2hours. I got so excited, I went home, grabbed a bite to eat and drove to Southfield, MI to help ANOTHER group of volunteers register some more voters. I was encouraged to see this post as soon as I got home. Tennesse is special to me because I'm originally from Memphis and worked in Nashville and Chattanooga for several years. Keep up the fight!
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)told me she wanted to help Obama so bad, I suggested she drive north over the border into South Charlotte to GOTV there.
United we stand, divided we fall...
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)The incident involved an Obama 2008 sign that has been on the door of an elderly couple for the last four years. They took it down because of a threatening note left in their mailbox. Reported it to the police, but they don't wish to discuss it with anyone else. I was horrified--never heard of this anywhere, and have never seen a Rmoney sign.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Corner house, busy street. Brand new pick up with tire cover on the back embroidered with the words '101st Airborne.' Look up at the window. See a Romney sign and that Obama in white face poster.
This in a very racially diverse area, but repukes are moving in and don't hesitate to show their hate. A while back some had infamous 'Pray for Obama' bumper sticker on the back of their cars. Even saw the 'Liberal Hunting Permit' sticker while going through a drive-through.
I blew off everything in my mind but the Obama in white face poster. I wonder what else is going on with those folks. The guy up bought the land in eastern WA to train for his coup comes to mind...
SleeplessinSoCal
(9,082 posts)I want us to be able to get out a message of real progressive ideals and debunk the lies from the Koch Bros.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)for local and state elections !
defacto7
(13,485 posts)Recommended and tweeted.
rapersun
(11 posts)Unfortunately when they can't win with facts, they resort to either name calling, straw hatting or destroying property. Really - they think that matters?
airplaneman
(1,239 posts)Samantha
(9,314 posts)My family moved east from Knoxville but I returned there during summers growing up as a child. I am totally familiar with the political bent of the city and why some of that exists. It saddens me. Tennessee is in fact a beautiful state, this thread mentions the Smokey Mountains, and it does have some of the most friendly people in this Country. They are good-hearted people who are exploited for their religion to vote against their own best interests. Just to see people though trying to make a difference in North Carolina is truly wonderful.
Thank you so much for posting this.
Sam
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)you have of what it is like to live in E. Tennessee.. we are surrounded by such beauty to be in the grips of such hatred.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)K Gardner
(14,933 posts)Festivito
(13,452 posts)Not me.
Now more than ever,
Forward
with Obama.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Now I might bring my daughter to Iowa or Wisconsin to door knock!
Thanks for an awesome, inspiring post.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)Seems kind of odd. Someone in broad daylight came by and cut up that sign? That's pretty brazen.
12AngryBorneoWildmen
(536 posts)K Gardner
(14,933 posts)first pic was taken late Friday evening at the OFA call bank, as you can see some cars lined up in the driveway. The girls (her daughter and granddaughter) were up late, had a sleepover, and slept in their clothes. They were awakened by the commotion the next morning. That's why the clothes are the same. The ironic thing is, my grandson and I drove by late Friday afternoon and the sign was intact. When we drove by the next morning, obviously, it was in shreds on the ground. The other thing I did not mention.. the sign had to have been cut with a large knife or other instrument. Scissors could not have done that damage.
mopinko
(69,990 posts)grr8wine
(15 posts)Destruction and violence are not how I taught my children to get their point across. Our children/grandchildren will rise above this!!!
secondwind
(16,903 posts)skeewee08
(1,983 posts)CrispyQ
(36,421 posts)This is what their hate & bigotry has done to me - energized me! Like a pink rabbit!
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Bless your heart, June Jones.
judesedit
(4,437 posts)presidency to asshole.
louis c
(8,652 posts)Me, I see the "Union Bug" (union manufacturer) in the lower right hand corner of the sign.
WestWisconsinDem
(127 posts)They lose... stupid teabaggers
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)I'm in northern MI here in fabulous Traverse City. It's a blood red county with a blue city proper.
Every election the R's win our county....but things change slowly but surely.
We've got a giant office space, enough room to house all the campaigns. What a bee-hive of activity!
We've got mailings getting put together, literature packets assembled for door-knocking, phone banking going on and donated silent auction items coming in the door daily for our big fundraiser this coming weekend. All at the same time!
We have purchased thousands of lawn-signs, helped all the surrounding counties with our big purchase (sharing!) and are going through them like crazy.
The excitement is palpable! Every day there are more and more people coming, wanting to help in any way they can! It is electric.
And the icing on the cake, drive by the "GOP Victory" office...*crickets* *tumbleweeds*
Julie
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)here, as well. I think people are embarassed to put them up !
cheezmaka
(737 posts)down here in Detroit, MI! The same thing is happening down here as well. Volunteers are working "every day" of the week until the 9th of November; phone banking, door-knocking, and registering voters in the streets...
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Much love to hard working brothers and sisters in the Motor City!
Julie
qwlauren35
(6,145 posts)I think we're contacting people TOO MUCH. Many of them are sick of the calls. It worries me. But I keep calling. In a single night I can make anywhere from 30-100 calls over the course of 3 hours. I can leave about 30 messages. I may reach 10 people, I may only find one volunteer. But we move foward.
Now I'm in charge of two phonebanks in Catonsville, MD on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We go up to Pennsylvania from 3 different locations in Baltimore City/County on Saturdays AND Sundays.
We're fired up.
Samantha
(9,314 posts)I believe he said the most recent polling shows Obama 49 Romney 46. But I know he said it is the most significant lead he has had down there in this race. Wow!
Sam
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)putting it up next to the house with a spotlight on it and a sign that says "24 hour surveillance cameras", LOL.
I really think we'll win NC. Those people are Fired up and Ready to Go !!
simmonsj811
(345 posts)klook
(12,151 posts)Very inspiring post. Thanks so much to you Smoky Mountaineers for the great work!
And if this means you get to spend any time in the Asheville area, so much the better. Beautiful town, and there are some wonderful people there.
librarylu
(503 posts)I was hesitant to put Obama bumper stickers on my cars after learning one elderly volunteer had her car "keyed" and anothers' was wrapped in yellow caution tape.
Someone planted a R&R yard sign right where I have to turn to get home and there was a Pro-Life card stuck on my car this evening but this morning I noticed half a dozen new Obama-Biden signs along the Interstate when I was driving to work and another one the way home.
It's looking like we can!