I've been keeping an eye on this centerpiece of the Democratic 2014 midterm election strategy since news of it first appeared in February. From The New York Times:
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ plan to hold on to their narrow Senate majority goes by the name “Bannock Street project.” It runs through 10 states, includes a $60 million investment and requires more than 4,000 paid staff members. And the effort will need all of that — and perhaps more — to achieve its goal, which is nothing short of changing the character of the electorate in a midterm cycle.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is preparing its largest and most data-driven ground game yet, relying on an aggressive combination of voter registration, get-out-the-vote and persuasion efforts.
They hope to make the 2014 midterm election more closely resemble a presidential election year, when more traditional Democratic constituencies — single women, minorities and young voters — turn out to vote in higher numbers, said Guy Cecil, the committee’s executive director.
(my bold)
http://www.nytimes.com/...
This is some seriously encouraging stuff. As Markos just said yesterday, IIRC, if our folks show up, we win.
$60 Million dollars is also serious money. The Kochs, to date, have spent half that on the 2014 Midterms. Bannock Street's budget I assume will grow over the coming months.
Part of the plan is to get the word out to voters that THE KOCH BROTHERS are largely behind all these BS ads - mostly Obamacare lies - that have already been playing in a few competitive states. There is some calculation that Dems might only need a tenth of the Koch/Goposaur budget until the Koch garbage starts backfiring, and their own money starts working against them.
Sort of like the myth of Theseus:
The Call for Theseus is when he meets the talking gull. The gull was a messenger from his father, Poseidon, telling him, "Do not fear your enemy's size, but use it against him." Theseus was small for his age and was always beaten. When the gull told him this, he immediately ran to the bully and slapped him in the face. The bully threw a punch, but Theseus pulled his arm, and the bully swung off balance and landed on his head.
http://prezi.com/...
This advice helps Theseus defeat the Minotaur (which rhymes with Goposaur).
If anybody has ideas on how to make the Bannock Street Project even more mighty, please share in the comments. I think it's kind of cool how this gameplan has thus far been humming along under the radar. :)
Let's leave it all on the road to keep the Senate and win back the House in November!
H/t to StellaRay for encouraging me to write this post.
Update 1:
A bit more about the plan from The Hill:
Code-named the “Bannock Street Project,” after the street where DSCC Chairman Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has his Denver field headquarters, the effort aims to turn out single women, minorities and young voters in numbers that rival election year results.
The committee plans to mine data much the same way the Obama campaign did to boost turnout in the president’s favor, and will focus on both voter registration and mobilization efforts in those key states.
http://thehill.com/...
Update 2:
Awesome website launched by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee -kochaddiction.com
And here are some stats on the BSP vis-a-vis Florida, from the DSCC:
WHAT FL-13 REALLY MEANS: BANNOCK STREET PROJECT IS CRITICAL. The takeaway from the special in Florida is that Democrats will need to invest heavily in a national field program in order to win in November. Nearly 50,000 fewer people voted in the special than in the 2010 general election, a 21% drop off. Nearly 160,000 fewer people voted in the special than in 2012 general election, a 46% drop off. The FL 13 election really puts an exclamation point on the investment the DSCC is making to boost turnout...
http://www.dscc.org/...
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