Its quite refreshing to read original reporting in the media and an honest attempt to assess campaigns independently.
Most of the media reports regarding ground game are parroting the campaign soundbites and hand picked stats that reinforce ones narrative. I love the detailed diaries on Kos from our operatives in NC, OH, etc. with early vote details etc. but rarely get the other side of the story on GOP progress.
I really enjoyed this piece by Molly Ball at Atlantic magazine for its detailed first hand reporting of visits of field offices at random from both campaigns.
Obama's Edge: The Ground Game That Could Put Him Over the Top
Beyond the now CONFIRMED surge (Gallup, Rand, IBD, etc) that Obama is getting in the past few days this gives me even greater confidence of an additional % point or two in the key states of CO, NH, OH, NC, Virginia, Florida (and a whole bunch of points in Nevada thanks to Harry Reid's organization.
Beyond the graphic of the supine stay-puft marshmallow man you'll find a couple of key quotes from the article... Enjoy!
Regarding the relative comparison of the field offices:
Four years ago, Barack Obama built the largest grassroots organization in the history of American politics. After the election, he never stopped building, and the current operation, six years in the making, makes 2008 look like "amateur ball," in the words of Obama's national field director Jeremy Bird. Republicans insist they, too, have come a long way in the last four years. But despite the GOP's spin to the contrary, there's little reason to believe Romney commands anything comparable to Obama's ground operation.
But the difference isn't just quantitative, it's qualitative. I visited Obama and Romney field offices in three swing states -- Ohio, Colorado and Virginia -- dropping in unannounced at random times to see what I could see. There were some consistent, and telling, differences.[...snip...] But the difference isn't just quantitative, it's qualitative. I visited Obama and Romney field offices in three swing states -- Ohio, Colorado and Virginia -- dropping in unannounced at random times to see what I could see. There were some consistent, and telling, differences.
and the summary quote that highlights the philosophy differences:
We may not be able to fully size up the campaigns' ground games and their effect until Election Day -- and maybe not even then. But what struck me most, in talking to Republicans about their ground game, was the extent to which they admitted they weren't even playing the game. On Obama's voter registration advantage, for example, Wiley said it just wasn't something Republicans had really tried to do.