Why MA is tending to the right
Two days ago I had a conversation with someone who is leading the Obama effort on the Cape and Islands. I found his name from an article in the CCTimes.
I have been trying for two months now to locate Obama people on the Cape so I went to the Obama site, figuring that whatever was going on on Cape would be affiliated with the campaign and I would find it through the campaign site.
Well, there are quite a few groups on Cape on the campaign site. All the Cape ones have 5 or 10 or maybe 30 people subscribed. Curious. Why so few? Why are many of those people not really Cape Codders, but reps from the campaign in Chicago, or Boston, or fercrissakes, Texas even?
So I subscribe to two of those groups and then dead silence. Nothing. No emails, despite that there are a bevy of things going on - phonebanking, letter writing to superdelegates etc., trips to PA to knock on doors or register voters.
Silence.
Where is everybody? Is everybody on the Cape in Mrs. Clinton's pocket? Are there no people on the Cape interested in or getting committed to Mr. Obama?
So I call this guy down Cape and have a chat. He tells me he's got 300 people on his email list to contact when things need doing for Mr. Obama. I ask him about the fact that I couldn't find him through the Obama site. Why not?
Well, "we're all set up here, in touch with the Boston office, they steer people to us when they register at the campaign site. We've been to NH, door to door, carrying signs, etc."
Yes. But why can't I find you through the campaign site?
"Well, they're sending new contacts to us when they register."
Well, I registered at the site 2 months ago, have you heard from me?
"Well, what's your name?"
I give him my name and there's no evidence that he's ever heard from he, he says.
So I say "seems to me you'd want to make the Cape Obama people accessible to newcomers. I suggest you get the Cape group affiliated through the campaign site you people can find you."
So it's two days later. I check the Obama campaign site, note that Mr. Obama has added 80,000 NEW donors since the end of the PA primary.
And that the Cape and Islands for Obama group is STILL NOT affiliated with the site.
Hmmm.
Now I think I understand even better why MA voted for Clinton and is moving to the right.
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The notion that Massachusetts - a state without a Republican in its congressional delegation or among its statewide electeds; a state with Democratic supermajorities in both houses of its General Court - is trending right is to absurd to bother to refute.
What you've got is an anecdote - that the leader of the 300 Obama activists on Cape Cod is not terribly savvy about leveraging the campaign website. It's far more likely, to me at least, that you're dealing with an old-line political operative who prefersthe old ways of conducting business to the strange decentralization and empowerment of the digital age. But at this stage, does it matter? Massachusetts is winner-take-all in the general election. There's no remaining primary within striking distance of the state. It's a foregone conclusion - the Democratic nominee will take the state in November. So with all due respect, why does this matter?
April 25, 2008 9:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Foregone? Could be. But what are the consequences of an MA loss in the Fall? Could be dire.
April 25, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or Wisconsin, for that matter.
April 25, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink