I've been reading 538's account of the difference between McCain and Obama offices, and I'll fill you in on what it looks like in our part of New Hampshire.
Because I haven't been able to canvass for the campaign on the weekends lately, I've been doing the "Neighbor to Neighbor" on the Obama website. You can canvass or call voters in your neighborhood based on a list that the campaign removes from their rolls temporarily for you to take on. I found that is is easier to say, "Hi! I'm your neighbor," to a stranger when you canvass. But this kind of canvassing is a bit relentless, for you're not off the hook for that voter until you've contacted them or come up with a convincing reason why you can't (such as: they've moved.) I have one woman who I have visited 6 times, all at different times of the day, and still I haven't caught her home. I'm determined now. But here is something really important: I am in first place (whatever that means), which strikes me as crazy because I really haven't done that much. I've knocked on a lot of doors and contacted over 50 people, but again, that's not that much. The campaign rates you (somehow) and I'm at level 8. As you can imagine, there are higher ratings out there in Obamaland. My point is: many of you are not using this service, and you should! I talked to one woman during some calling at the office who happened to have moved to Colorado, and she was encouraged to get out and canvass via neighbor2neighbor ( I think that's their spelling) so she could meet her new neighbors.
The campaign office is buzzing every night with volunteers calling voters or recruiting other volunteers. There's always a menu of delicious food that other volunteers drop off for the callers. By contrast, the McCain office nearby is usually quiet. I still have not met a McCain canvasser on the road, and I've been doing this almost every weekend since July. A busload of volunteers from Vermont comes in each weekend to help us canvass in the Upper Valley area, and huge numbers of volunteers come in from Massachusetts to help in Southern NH.
Independents are starting to make up their minds, and many are moving to Obama. Others are really struggling. You see, we liked McCain here in NH, and many folks are just realizing they may not be able to vote for him this election. The Palin pick is a real problem here. For the typical crusty NH independent, she's not their type. We see many, many candidates coming through NH, and we're pretty good at spotting phonies or people who lack depth or insight. There are plenty of McCain signs around, but I doubt they have been put up by independents ( Obama signs are hard to get, but they do outnumber McCain's in this area. I think that you may be in for a surprise at what happens in NH 4 weeks from now.