|
In activities that rarely compete with the hoopla of the GOP nominating contest, Obama's campaign has placed a handful of paid staffers in each of several key states. They try to leverage their clout by recruiting and training scores of volunteers. The volunteers, in turn, knock on doors, organize house parties and, above all, place phone calls to voters in hopes of identifying likely Obama supporters and tracking them through Election Day. In a tortoise-versus-hare strategy, Obama supporters hope their steady chugging will build support precinct by precinct, town by town, while Republicans spend resources chasing the nomination for a few more weeks or months. The Republican candidates and their broadcast ads are flooding Iowa this week, but they will abruptly shift to New Hampshire on Jan. 4, the day after the caucuses. Walters, a 60-year-old insurance executive, said he is a "neighborhood team leader" who helps organize house parties, phone banks and other activities. His chief recruiting tools, he said, involve reminding Iowans of Obama's accomplishments that include expanding medical benefits in the hard-won 2010 overhaul of the nation's health care system. Walters said he hopes the week-by-week, month-by-month effort will build a strong ground operation to turn out Obama's voters next November. The Republican nominee will have to play catch up, he said. Obama's ground game "is already in place," Walters said. "It's just a matter of growing it." Iowa Democratic Chairwoman Chair Sue Dvorsky underscored the methodical nature of the efforts in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Since April, she said, "this has been a systematic grass-roots effort. The same exact way we did it last time. It isn't very glamorous. It's not a very secret plan. It is voter to voter, one-to-one, then a street, then a precinct, then a county." Dvorsky said Obama will beam "a live address to Iowa Democrats in every caucus site next Tuesday night.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2011 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor