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Why Obama Staffers Are Secretly Worried, and Other Dispatches from the Campaign Trail
Publicly, he's acting like he already won. But behind the scenes, Obama's campaign is amassing lawyers and gearing up to counter dirty tactics on election day.
Austin, Texas
By Paul Alexander
This week, Barack Obama has shown clear signs that he is confident he is going to win. But privately, top Obama leadership are still worried that Republicans might be able to pull off another improbable election night victory.
Last week, in closed-to-the-press meetings, Obama officials briefed major donors about their concerns heading into the election’s final stretch. One of those meetings took place in Austin, Texas—a city in the solid red state of Texas that has raised a surprisingly large amount of money for Obama, mostly from the city’s high-tech community.
“The Obama campaign has learned the lessons of 2000 and 2004. On Election Day, lawyers will be everywhere—all the way down to the county level.”
In Texas and other states, Obama officials are preparing for the possibility that polls may be wildly off because of the so-called Bradley effect.
“The Obama officials are very cautious,” says an attendee at the Austin meeting. “They want comfortable margins in place just in case. They are looking at three to six percentage points as a possible Bradley effect. Before they consider a state comfortable, they want it outside the polling margins. They think the Bradley effect could be as large as six—maybe even seven—percentage points, but they don’t really know.”
Another major concern of the campaign is what they consider to be voter suppression. “The Obama leadership believes there is a systematic campaign,” says the attendee, “by the White House and the Justice Department to suppress voter turnout across the country.”
To counteract the Bradley effect and potential voter suppression, the Obama leadership has amassed one of the largest legal teams ever assembled by a presidential campaign. The main goal of the legal team, almost all of them volunteers, is to guarantee ballot security. “The Obama campaign has learned the lessons of 2000 and 2004,” my source says. “On Election Day, lawyers will be everywhere—all the way down to the county level.
Obama officials point to the government’s treatment of ACORN, the nationwide association of community organizations, as an example of possible voter suppression. The campaign has never relied on ACORN for its voter registration drives, according to Obama officials, and is viewed as only one of many venders hired by the campaign. Of the $605 million raised by the Obama campaign so far, only $800,000 has gone to ACORN—a number that could be much larger, and would have been had the campaign relied on it more heavily.
But perhaps the most important asset the Obama campaign has is an army of workers estimated to be as large as 100,000 nationwide. Some paid staffers, mostly volunteers, the workers are being spread out across the country to states the Obama campaign is targeting. For example, 5,000 workers based in Texas—a state Obama doesn’t expect to win—are being relocated to New Mexico, a state Obama believe he can win.
Obama workers will be flooding into other battleground states in the waning days of the presidential race, among them Colorado, Nevada, and Ohio—perhaps even Georgia and Montana. What is impressive about this sizable operation is its very organization. By Election Day, campaign officials believe, they may have the most extensive grass-roots organization of any presidential campaign in history.
Wausau, Wisconsin
By Rachel Hulin
Yesterday, I was canvassing for Barack Obama in Wausau, Wisconsin when an elderly man brought this flyer into the office. He said it was taped to mailboxes all over his neighborhood. At the bottom, in fine print, is written: Approved and Sponsored by: Barack Hussein Obama II for President, Wausau Chapter. Is this another whisper campaign? It reminded me of eight years ago during the presidential primaries, when dozens of South Carolina radio stations received phone calls from people claiming John McCain had fathered a black child. The story was false, but many believe it helped tank McCain’s candidacy.
Santa Monica, California
By Erika Schickel
Just because you’re too young to vote doesn’t mean you can’t take part in the political process. This was the idea I had been burnishing when I told my kids we were going out to Santa Monica to volunteer for Obama.
There was a lot of griping. The teen wanted to walk to the park with her boyfriend to play their ukuleles and snuggle. The ‘tween wanted a play date with her friend next door. But I had a vision of us working together, a family united in hope. “No, let’s be the change we want to see in the world!” I think I may have actually chirped at them. Eyes rolled.
But I’m still the boss of them, so half an hour later we were standing in the campaign office getting our assignments. It was abuzz with volunteers, clearly a family affair. There were skater boys phone banking, grade-schoolers sorting call sheets. Every phone was being used, and every time a caller spoke with an Obama voter they rang a bell. Bells were ringing all over the office.The atmosphere was festive. A snack table had water, coffee and an industrial-sized bag of M&M’s. I was feeling the hope.
I started dialing up Nevada voters. It being late afternoon, not many people were home, but every person I spoke to had me ringing the bell. The teen and her boyfriend were sent out to a nearby shopping mall to hand out leaflets. A few surly McCain people snarled and crumpled up the fliers, but mostly they met kindred spirits. The ‘tween was put in charge of shredding stacks of paper, which she did until the shredder overheated. She was in heaven.
Nobody wanted to leave, the ‘tween begging for ten more minutes. But dinner and homework waited and I had to pry them out of there. We drove home happy. Before bed, the teen emerged from her room and said, “I want to volunteer again Mom. It made me feel important.”
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Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
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The upset is called "Palin".
10th paragraph... "What is impressive about this sizable operation is its very organization." shouldn't that be "organized"?
other than that it's a good read...
@s1m0ne814: No, it should not be "organized." The "its" is a possessive pronoun, rather than a contraction for "it is." The "organization" belongs to the "operation," and my lameness for correcting you in the comments of this blog belongs to me. Apologies in advance.
i almost feel sorry for any one moronic enough to actually beleive that mrs. palin is capable or smart enough to run this country...she is not end of story...if a $400.00 haircut disqualifies a democrat a fifty thousand shopping spree throws her off the bridge(to nowhere)...republican hypocracy is why we are roasting them over a fire
I wish more would do their homework about voter problems during the last two elections. Check out all the people who were denied the right to vote and which demographic they fit into. Few were Republican voters. Coincidence? I think not.
The concern in the Obama camp is sadly justified. You can bet those who did their best to fix the last elections have been working overtime for this one.
What the Obama campaign needs to watch out for is "Middleman" software. It is a computer program designed by a friend of Karl Rove that allows votes to be skewed here and there, usually in battleground states. It looks innocuous on the surface but behind the scenes the program is enough to tally "votes" that actually weren't cast. This is how Bush took Ohio in 2004. I am surprised and stunned that this has not been brought up. Please take a look before it is too late and we are looking at another stolen election!
I actually grew up doing this kind of thing, and my kids have done much of the same. As a result I have an exceptionally savy 13 year old, and a tween who thinks it's always our job to fold chairs and put away tables.
s1m0ne814: your edit would only be correct if she had used 'it's'.
"It is very organized" would indeed make sense.
"Its very organization" refers to the possessive. The operation is the possessor of organization, which is why 'its' is the correct contraction. The current sentence basically states that the operation possesses organization. Your edit would indicate that the operated possesses organized, which doesn't make sense.
SMELL FAMILIAR?
Toilet Paper on the GOP Shoe
This odious letter is a timely reminder.
In the past several days we've had Joe the Plumber, Wardrobe-gate (and the subsequent back-fill), Bid-rigging Gate (waiting for the back-fill), and now this. This is the direct legacy of Nixon's CREEP and the disquieting aroma of a 2000 election decided by a whisker in a state coincidentally governed by the President's brother. And more recently, the phone jamming anecdote we've heard from convicted felon Allan Raymond's TV interviews to sell How to Rig an Election (haven't read it yet).
These episodes, and this hateful letter, symbolize the toilet paper insolubly stuck to the GOP's shoes.
Politics is dirty, and neither side has a halo, but here we are a week away from the most important election in our lifetimes, and we're still waiting for comparable revelations about the democrats. Liberal media squelching the dish? Where are their convicted election cheaters?
If you told this history to third graders, they'd conclude that these GOP guys don't like to share and don't play nice.
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Some Doubt Remains, But Basic Doubt Removed
We've struggled, we've had our doubts--still have 'em. Will Obama, if elected, give us a redux Jimmy Carter? That would be very very bad.
But the more we've learned, the more we're repulsed by the Republicans and propelled toward Obama, we've warmed up to the idea and ideals of a President Obama.
We watched the PBS program last night about McCain and Obama. Extremely illuminating. Two honorable, admirable men, similarly driven by ego and ambition. For each, this election is the last "to do" on a long-held agenda. McCain, undoubtedly more balanced to the center than he must appear to appease potential Republican voters. Obama, surprisingly and demonstrably more conservative than ordinarily portrayed.
For McCain, however, the virtually pre-ordained, paint-by-number tragedy documented on HCO (Monday, October 13, 2008-THE JURY MAY BE OUT, BUT THE EVIDENCE IS IN...), and by way smarter people elsewhere, is nearly complete. A good, forthright man, who was incontrovertibly maverick on many important issues, is gradually strangling himself in the entangled logoed scarves of his morally threadbare coalition.
Obama has by every reasonable measure kept closer faith with his values, and has disassociated from those who, formerly inside the tent, attempted to smuggle dishonor in (for example, Rev. Wright and more recently ACORN, although that still rankles).
So we take the wisdom wherever we find it. And thank the darkness, for without it, we would not be able to distinguish the light.
McCain is hanging (by a thread) in this race because of race. Period. McCain may still win (it reads like a tossup, no matter what the polls say), but by the great preponderance of evidence, his victory would be far from honorable and would promise nothing resembling a new day for America.
Thanks to the GOP and their minions for the recent reminders, and for at least clearing up all doubt as to who must get our votes now.
Time to drain the swamp, and mourn for the fallen Mr. McCain.
If 'star chambers' do exist I hope they realize that 4 years of Obama will be a lot less hassle than McCain.
beware of the "fixer". HE is out there, even though he should be in jail. He already got away with it twice, don't be surprised if he does it again!
If you liked this article, you'll love the film "FREE FOR ALL!" streaming online for free. It outlines the schemes in place that Obama's people are ready to face on election day.
www.freeforall.tv
This excellant article makes it clear-all you Obama supporters: VOTE! I voted early, and had to wait 1 1/2 hr. I was about to give up b/c I was hatless in the sun and I've had skin cancer. A kind black lady offered to get me her umbrella:) I thanked her and said it was my 1st time to vote for a Democrat since Carter. After that her family more or less adopted me! We had a wonderful time and didn'teven notice the time it took. So come on, everybody-get a hat or umbrella, a water bottle, and a good attitude, and go!
This is crazy. I'm Australian and apart from the fact that we have compulsory voting (and no, you aren't FORCED to vote for anyone- it's only compulsory to turn up, therefore if you leave a blank ballot it actually registers your dissatisfaction with the process rather than facilitating total disenfranchisement. It's a MUCH better system- no wasting mountains of money on trying to get people to vote in the first place or trying to pander to wacky interest groups or religious organisations) we also have a centralised federal electoral agency so that there is complete uniformity between states on how ballot papers are designed, how votes are registered and counted. Ballots are held in public schools so there's easy access and ballot papers across the country are standardised, differing only in the names of the candidates and parties so they cannot be manipulated without it being obvious
It's illegal to distribute the kind of material featured above or interfere with people voting in any way. Someone tried to do something very similar at our last national election and there was a federal police investigation. How can this be allowed in the US? It's not freedom of speech, it's actively preventing freedom of speech through egregious misreprensentation and lies. Australians (and our system is certainly not perfect) would be totally appalled at this behaviour.
Down here there's no need for lawyers- the government must ensure that all elections are fair and that democracy actually works and is not able to be corrupted. It's not up to individuals , parties or interest groups to try to ensure that the system is fair, nor should it be.
I've never had to wait more than twenty mintues to vote- aside from the fact that it's always on Saturdays so everyone can do it easily.
There's always a good- sometimes even a festival- atmosphere at the voting booths and they are very strictly controlled.
The US elections have a massive impact on the rest of the world and America is- often rightly- seen as a beacon of democracy. Why on earth is the electoral process such a corruptible, ramshackle mess?
Thank you.
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