Detractors may dismiss this potential as yet another pie in the sky promise. Certainly it is the same strategy Howard Dean openly advocated in his own run... yet, this year, with Obama, one has to really stand back and say, This Time It'll Be Reality. And for any democrat, that's just got to make your liberal heart turn a deep shade of blue.
Every four years, Democrats claim, and reporters write, that a massive voter registration and field operation will reshape the electorate in their favor. In recent years, they've been matched or bested by the Republican National Committee's targeted outreach to likely Republican voters.
But there are signs that this year could be different. In the Obama campaign, youth turnout and Internet-based organizing - so often promised, and rarely delivered in the past - have been made real. And the first black nominee could reach deep into the large non-voting tracts within the African-American community.
Something few pundits realize is that part of Obama's success thus far has been success in registering huge numbers of new voters. Certainly Hillary Clinton, to her credit, with the help of Emily's List and other organizations, has been pushing for increased voter registration amongst her key constituencies, however Obama has success to show for it.
South Carolina, Hildebrand said, was the site of another intensive effort. "A great case study for voter registration was the South Carolina primary, where we dramatically expanded the African-American vote and dramatically expanded the youth vote," he said. "It was such a big part of getting us to that 28-point margin of victory."
And Pennsylvania, what I labeled a Dry Run for Obama, is now on tap to be the next state in play due to this same effort. Much has been said about the huge number of new Democrats registered in Pennsylvania and other states, and some have supposed it's to Obama's overall advantage, but here is the mana for Obama fans thinking about Pennsylvania..
"We put together a massive effort," said Hildebrand, saying that the numbers include "over 200k Obama supporters" - an impressive number, and likely more than 10 percent of the total turnout in the primary.
That's of the 234,000 new voters registered this year in PA, the Obama Campaign is claiming now they have 200k supporters in that grouping. INCREDIBLE. Good news for those concerned about the length of the campaign season... Barack's Campaign is well funded enough that they don't have to wait for Hillary to drop out to begin this effort in earnest in key states.
"We are pretty convinced that Barack is going to be the nominee, and so we're going to prepare for a general election no matter how long this two-person race goes," he said. "What we did with those two demographic groups [in South Carolina and elsewhere] is what we will have the capacity to do in the general election in every state where there's large pockets of under-35s and African-Americans" - states that include Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and other battlegrounds.
This is phenominal news considering Obama's Track Record on this strategy. He got his Political Chops doing just this thing way back when he was just a young guy with a funny name on the South Side.
A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape-and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama.
In the final, climactic buildup to November's general election, with George Bush gaining ground on Bill Clinton in Illinois and the once-unstoppable campaign of senatorial candidate Carol Moseley Braun embroiled in allegations about her mother's Medicare liability, one of the most important local stories managed to go virtually unreported: The number of new voter registrations before the election hit an all-time high. And the majority of those new voters were black. More than 150,000 new African-American voters were added to the city's rolls.
At the head of this effort was a little-known 31-year-old African-American lawyer, community organizer, and writer: Barack Obama.
Within a few months, Obama, a tall, affable workaholic, had recruited staff and volunteers from black churches, community groups, and politicians. He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide. And he began a saturation media campaign with the help of black-owned Brainstorm Communications. The group's slogan-"It's a Power Thing"-was ubiquitous in African-American neighborhoods. Posters were put up. Black-oriented radio stations aired the group's ads and announced where people could go to register. Minority owners of McDonald's restaurants allowed registrars on site and donated paid radio time to Project Vote! Labor unions provided funding, as, in late fall, did the Clinton/Gore campaign, whose national voter-registration drive was being directed by Chicago alderman Bobby Rush.
"We were registering hundreds a day, and we weren't having to search them out. They came looking for us. African Americans were just so eager to have a say again, to feel they counted."
"I think it's fair to say we reinvigorated a slumbering constituency," says Obama. "We got people to take notice."
This diary is for every Obama volunteer in every single state. Get ready, we have work to do. I am a precinct Captain for 0711 on Houston's west side, Harris County, Obama Country. We live where there are dozens of apartment complexes, full of under 35 and minority groups... full of unregistered voters who are there, waiting to be tapped. In my own precinct, we had 14 wonderful Obama Delegates and several alternates turn out to the SD-17 Convention, and this group of Delegates will mobilize starting in June to go door to door and knock every single door to register every single voter who is favorable to Obama. I'm not looking for Republicans... I'm looking for Democrats. And this will happen in 50 states, it will create intense Coat Tails the likes of which consultants have only ever dreamed of before. And if can and will forever change American Politics.
This is the Potential of Barack Obama and his campaign for Presidency. This isn't about Barack, this is about US, the Party, and America. Making America Great Again, building lasting permanent majorities, and putting the Adults back in charge...
and the scary part for the Republicans... with Barack, you gotta figure this time, it'll work!
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