The Obama Ground Game: Is this Obama's Secret Weapon?
...Field operatives have been undervalued in recent years, as the focus of campaigns has shifted to big-money ad-bombs, compounded by the super-PAC economy. But this presidential campaign is going to come down to a few percentage points in a half dozen states, and suddenly ground game is about to get a lot of respect.
So The Daily Beast decided to map out the Obama and Romney local headquarters across the country as one way of gauging the strength of each campaigns ground game. And what we found was an overwhelming advantage755 to 283by the Obama campaign on at least this one metric.
In the key swing states of this election the numbers are stark:
In Ohio, 122 Obama local HQs compared to 40 for Romney.
In Florida, the Obama campaign has 102 local HQs versus 48 for Romney.
And in Virginia, a more even split47 for Obama compared to 29 for Romney... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/19/ground-game-obama-campaign-opens-up-a-big-lead-in-field-offices.html
On a personal note, I have never seen a more organized operation than what I saw in my own home county in the US. On Saturday, there were more than 8 volunteers calling people in order to get out the Florida vote. This is a TINY county in North Florida. Obama has setup the most impressive ground game (at least in swing-states) that I have ever seen. If he wins Florida (and I think as of today he would win by 1 or 2 %), it will largely be due to the work of the volunteers and the organization that has brought them together.
I am sure there are many similar experiences here on DU in numerous states. My only wish is that I could do more this time. Unfortunately, I am sunk under the weight of starting a new business. There is always the next cycle though!