The Ground Game

Jan8

I did not really know or understand how a "ground game" works so I thought I would share some of the things I have seen from volunteering for Obama and being a poll worker.  I am actually the presiding judge for my polling place aka the boss. I am in a democratic county in Ohio.

Throughout the election season phone calls were made to individuals.  This was done early on asking who people support.  I am a regular voting and have never missed any election.  I confirmed my support via phone for Obama (ex. strong support...there is nothing the other guy could say to make me flip).  I haven't been directly contacted again accept to ask to volunteer for the campaign.  Individuals who are spotty voters or who were undecided/weak support received additional phone calls and door knocks.  The door knocks had two types of voters.  First, voters who were committed to vote for Obama but we needed to motivate them to go to the polls.  The other type of voters were undecided.  Each type of voter had a piece of literature depending on what type of voter they were.  This is a change from 2008.  In 2008, we just knocked on doors and talked but did not have information to leave.  It should also be noted that in 2008, Obama shared offices with local democrats.  He has his own offices this time dedicated just to the Pres election.

I voted early.  I got emails and letters from the campaign thanking me for voting.  I got stickers to wear and information to pass on to a friend.  This is also a change. DH got the same things.

So in my county, 5th largest in the state, they have 1450 volunteers lined up for GOTV on election day.  When the polls open, at 11 am and at 4 pm, as poll workers we are required to post a list of everyone who has voted in our area.  These volunteers will come in with the list of committed Obama supporters and see if they have voted yet at each of these times.  If not, they will first get a phone call and then a home visit to encourage them to go out and vote, to drive them to the polls, etc.  

The ground game seems to be more organized this time around for Obama then in 2008.  I cannot speak to Romney because I did not do anything with them.  I also can say that we have democratic poll observers listed in our materials (they have to be preregistered) but none for republicans.  This is also apart of the ground game.  Observers call in problems to the campaigns so they can intervene if necessary.  I know in the past republicans have not come in and looked at the voter posting list but I am not sure about Tuesday.  

The GOTV is a science.  

 

LuckyDad

I've read a few articles about how much the ground game and GOTV have evolved in the past decade or so. The Ground Game is a big part of how Obama beat Hillary back in the 2008 Primary. She was better connected to the establishment and initially had a fundraising advantage, but Obama played the ground game well and in many states like Iowa used that well established ground game again in the General Election. I've read speculation that because a lot of Romney's Primary wins were based on heavily outspending his opponents on TV advertising rather than ground game, he actually came into the general election with a huge disadvantage on that level, and if he loses it may be a big reason why. Of course, the long Republican Primary season also probably drained a lot of Republican dollars away from their general election war chests as well, but we can save that discussion for the post-mortem.

ohioloveyou

This is very interesting.  I didn't know the ground game was such a science with cross checking lists, etc.  The sheer manpower required of this across the nation, then is mind-boggling.

cakergirl

Not the nation.  Just the swing states.  Nobody cares about the rest of us, lol!