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DEL.ICIO.USWin or lose, Obama has changed the game in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Perhaps Georgia will serve as the foamy tip of a Barack Obama wave on Tuesday. At the risk of using more of the Las Vegas-style language that has wearied everyone, odds are higher that the state will remain red.
Regardless of the outcome, the Obama presidential campaign has made its mark in Georgia. Democrats and Republicans agree that the effort here has revolutionized the way politics is played, with its emphasis on new technology, young people and organization.
Mere television will no longer be able to contain this state’s contests for power.
Former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, an Obama ally who ran his last race in 1990, was among the first to mark the strategic shift forced by what he called “one of the most competent campaigns that we have seen in the history of this country.”
“The Internet has sent us back to the future,” he said last week. “When I was campaigning, we had to have headquarters in counties all over Georgia. Guess what? We’re back to that day now.”
While it used several dashes of TV advertising, the Obama campaign primarily relied on a small knot of paid staff and whole divisions of volunteers scattered across Georgia — Twittering, Facebooking, and MySpacing their way beyond anyone’s expectations.
An autumn crash on Wall Street obviously helped force a close contest. But by contrast, the Georgia campaign of Republican John McCain operated out of a headquarters in Tallahassee, Fla. It chose to piggyback on the strength of U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ re-election bid and the state’s Republican reputation.
Strategists across the state, both Republican and Democrat, now wonder which parts of the Obama campaign can be bottled for later use.
The Illinois senator has drawn hundreds of thousands of new Georgians into the discussion, including a record number of black voters. But we can elect the first African-American president only once.
If Tuesday’s U.S. Senate race results in a runoff, the extra-innings contest could be the first test of whether these new voters represent a permanent force in state politics, or a passing flash of emotion.
Obama’s appeal to younger voters will likewise be captured in tomorrow’s exit polls.
Last week, Nunn told of Republican friends who complained of sending money to their college-aged children, only to see the cash end up as contributions to the Obama campaign. But again, years will be required to judge whether this is a generational shift toward the Democratic column, or mere infatuation.
“Much of this is candidate-based and can’t be replicated. Obama’s almost a party unto himself,” theorized Mark Rountree, a Republican strategist.
But technology is another matter. Last Wednesday, Rountree received a mailer at his home, from the state GOP and the Chambliss campaign. With six days to go, it was an invitation to mail an application for an absentee ballot. A stamp was required.
At the same time, the Obama campaign was sending out tens of thousands of e-mails that — sorted by ZIP code and address — directed voters to early voting stations within blocks of their homes.
Rountree said the GOP has nothing to compare.
Eric Tanenblatt, another Republican, once served as Gov. Sonny Perdue’s chief of staff. He now leads the government affairs section of the law firm of McKenna, Long & Aldridge.
Tanenblatt is paid to understand the power of grassroots movements, and was fascinated by the Obama campaign’s offer to e-mail to supporters the first news of the Democratic nominee’s choice for vice president. He signed up, and has received at least three e-mails a day from the Democratic campaign ever since.
Some of the last messages, noting his Buckhead residence, urged Tanenblatt to help re-elect U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat.
But beyond the trick of matching e-mails to geography was the Obama campaign’s mastery of networking, Tanenblatt said — the ability to assemble and reach out, via the Internet, to the growing number of voters who live outside the reach mainstream media.
“They’ve used technology better than any campaign I’ve ever seen. They have taken networking to that next level — to social mobilization,” Tanenblatt said.
And he wonders how it can be applied to the next Republican campaign. Or, perhaps, to the next cause that needs a little push in Congress, the Legislature, or your nearest county commission.
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Comments
By Alec
November 2, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this
All media and all polls are “in the tank” for Obama. Don’t believe them- they are skewed toward favoring the Democrats from faulty samples- and tryng to discourage you from going to the polls.
Every vote COUNTS! So bring as many like-minded friends as you can (and perhaps a lawn chair) and Vote McCain-Palin 2008
We have to show up in force- to defeat the voter fraud by ACORN!
And please, don’t waste your precious vote on a write-in for Hillary, Huckabee, Nader, Paul, Barr, Romney or Baldwin. God Bless them ALL! It’s a 2 party race people- and it’s going to be close. It will either be McCain or Obama Nov. 4.
Don’t let the polls, the media or long lines at the voting polls discourage you! Get out the VOTE Nov. 5th McCain-Palin 2008
God Bless John McCain and Sarah Palin God Bless America God Bless Our Troops
www.JohnMcCain.com www.ObamaExposed.com www.ObamaFiles.com www.ObamaCrimes.com www.ObamaWTF.com
By Gary
November 2, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this
ACORN’s workers defrauded ACORN by making up names and getting paid for registering imaginary people, but none of those imaginary people will actually show up with proof of ID and residence to vote, so the outcome will not be affected. Blather about ACORN is just and attempt to distract voters from the fact that Republicans stole the 2000 election in Flordida, and the 2004 election in Ohio, and without a doubt have fraud planned for this election.
By Paulie
November 2, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
Alec - go take a chill pill and breathe!
Don’t tell us our precious vote is wasted by not casting a vote for McCain or Obama. Within our right to vote is the right to vote for whomever we want. If that means voting for Libertarian Barr, then so be it, but it’s not wasted as Barr is an official presidential candidate, too. We have a three-party system, not a two-party system as you stated.
It also appears you’ve forgotten a very large percentage of Georgia voters have already cast their vote for president - so you’re shouting to the peanut gallery, dude.
So, like I said before, go chill and breathe.
By shannon
November 2, 2008 5:27 PM | Link to this
That’s voter REGISTRATION FRAUD - not voter fraud - where do you come from anyway? You probably dont know the difference anyway, so its moot; a precious vote for McCain/Palin isn’t so precious if they finish off dismantling the constitution as Bush has started, but maybe you weren’t so keen on being an American democracy anyway. Obama is tenured on the Constitution; he taught the constitution at Chicago University - which is an American institution, for your info.
By Houston
November 2, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this
Alec
If this was true you would know that the day to vote is Nov 4th not the 5th! Vote Obama!
By Jason
November 2, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this
The Obama campaign has breathed new life into politics. When have we seen such huge numbers of volunteers, such excitement that the old guard may begin to be driven back and out of D.C.? Not since the era of Kennedy, MLK and the like. People are responding to hope. Old white guys might well be on their way to conceding their unassailable perches. With the chance of Obama winning the white house, maybe we could see a government that really does represent the melting pot we live in, instead of one dominated by old wealthy white men.
By Houston
November 2, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
Alec
If this was true you would know that the day to vote is Nov 4th not the 5th! Vote Obama!
By Jimbo
November 2, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this
anyone who has spent time around GOP campaigns knows that hacks like Rountree and Tannenblatt ARE the problem.
one’s a hack who blackmails legislators and the other is just not that bright.
By coolpillow
November 2, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this
Don’t know why you Kool Aid drinkers are jumping on Alec about the date. He said the 4th. And he is also right about ACORN and Voter FRAUD- which is being investigated by the FBI in at least 13 states. (Not all states require photo ID- and in Ohio, if you are homeless- you can pick out the park bench you sleep on).
Obama’s “teacher of Constitutional Law” stint was just part of his thin resume as a community agitator. And he was President of the Harvard Law Review and never published a postcard.
As for voting your choice- of course - vote Barr, Vote Mickey Mouse (he’s registered, BTW) but it is a wasted vote. Peeing in the wind. I voted for Perot, so I know.
Jason’s comments about old white men- just makes me see that Obama’s playing the race card is working with the folks who haven’t been paying attention and are just voting for the Black guy. (And by the way- he’s not an “African America Black- like he’s related to you, Black).
Now- I realize that all of ya’ll have heard these names before- BUT HAVE YOU DONE THE RESEARCH?
Or does common sense go out the window with all this empty rhetoric about “change.”
And- not to ignore the Jews that might be reading this blog- do you realize that Obama went to the Million Man March with Louis Farrakhan- who has proclaimed Obama “The Messiah”- and has called Judaism “a gutter religion?” That Obama toasted and clapped celebratin Rashin Kahlidi- PLO Jew Hating terrorist?
Then we get to the cast of characters Rev. G.D. AmeriKKKA Wright and Black Liberation Theology. Marxist, hate America, hate White people.
Obama’s buddy Bill Ayres (yeah, I know, he’s just a guy in the neighborhood that got rehabilitated). But he dedicated his book “Prairie Fire” in 2001- to Sirhan Sirhan- who assasinated Bobby Kennedy. Wonder if Teddy and Caroline know? Obama blurbed Ayres book about juvenile justice- that extolled the virtues of lesser sentences for young offenders on murder, rape and drug trafficking.
Kind of like the Menendez brothers, throwing themselves on the mercy of the court because they were orphans.
Oh well- it all gets back to Tuesday.
And God Bless the young voters who are excerising their right to vote for the first time. But I pray that they have done their homework, because they don’t have a frame of reference to know how history can repeat itself and the American school system is sorely lacking in history of the last two generations. If Obama gets in, we are doomed to repeat it.
McCain-Palin 2008 And yeah- I’d like to say God Bless America, our troops, Sarah and John.
We all need to pray.
By Georgia Blue
November 2, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this
Yes, you go ahead and pray. Meanwhile, LET’S TURN GEORGIA BLUE!!!
Take nothing forgranted, y’all! Your vote matters!
Obama/Biden, Martin, and ALL local Democrats ‘08!!
By Mogen Taen
November 2, 2008 7:01 PM | Link to this
Whether Obama wins or not his campaign organisation and strategy will no doubt be a study. Some derided him as ‘just a community organiser’ but they machinery he set up and the networking that his campaign has accomplished are breathtaking. He has demonstrated the power of grassroot networking and community ownership of campaign or any undertaking and this is good for America and the world.
By Dunn Gone
November 2, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this
Jimbo, aka Bill McKinney, are you still lurking around? How many campaigns can you lose and still be allowed to have a computer?
By the_good_hurt
November 2, 2008 9:46 PM | Link to this
Some people sound like Baddad Bob! This race can’t be this close. Go Obama 08
By You're a dumb american
November 3, 2008 7:27 AM | Link to this
Marxist, socialist, communist. They said the same kind of things about FDR. Even if you liked McCain, could you really bring yourself to vote for him, when his running mate is a mouth-breathing tool?
Now that we’re in the toilet after eight years of the rich getting richer, why would you elect someone who’s been shoulder to shoulder with W. Bush the whole time?
Why continue to spend BILLIONS on an inconsequential third-world country when we’re bailing out these failed banks, to the tune of TRILLIONS!
For the benefit of the war contractors?
Do YOUR research, coolpillow. And that means more than memorizing the Hannity talking points.