April 30, 2004

Ghost workers
Posted by McQ

This doesn't bode well for a Kerry win. Seems the "gang who can't shoot straight" has problems organizationally as well:

Sen. John Kerry has yet to establish campaign organizations in battleground states that likely will decide who wins the presidential race in November, Democratic strategists said yesterday.

As an example:

Mr. Kerry's campaign apparatus is nowhere to be seen in Michigan, a critical Midwestern prize with 17 electoral votes that Democrat Al Gore captured in 2000, but is now a neck-and-neck race where President Bush has the edge in some polls, Democrats say.

"It's dead even here but there is almost no activity in the state" from Mr. Kerry's campaign organization, said Michigan Democratic pollster Ed Sarpolus.

Contrast that with:

The lack of a Kerry ground organization at this point is in sharp contrast to Mr. Bush's campaign, which has a state-by-state pyramidal organization of precinct, county, state and regional volunteers that already number in the hundreds of thousands across the country.

Does anyone want to argue that organization isn't key to winning any election?

So where's the Kerry campaign?

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Comments

I'll tell you one thing, if Bush's warchest hasn't gotten him the desired boost in the polls, it definitely has helped behind the scenes.

Posted by: sean at April 30, 2004 02:26 PM

Who needs an organization? Kerry served in VIETNAM!!!

Posted by: SaveFarris at April 30, 2004 02:29 PM

Assume all three claims are facts. 1 .The Bush campaign has been well organized and active for some time. 2. The Kerry campaign has been poorly organized and inactive at least up until now. 3. The polling data suggests the race is dead even.

This would seem to bode ill for Bush _if_ Kerry starts to get organized between now and November.
Am I missing something?

Posted by: Pouncer at April 30, 2004 03:33 PM

Pouncer: It could indeed mean trouble if you also assume that an organization can be up, running and have some momentum in a 6 month period.

Frankly I have my doubts. If it isn't running now like a well oiled machine (how long has he been the presumptive nominee?), it probably won't be anytime soon.

Other reports I read point to a lack of real interest in Kerry among prospective paid staff. Many from other dem candidate campaigns have turned down work on the Kerry campaign. That doesn't bode well for him either.

Posted by: McQ at April 30, 2004 03:41 PM

So where's the Kerry campaign?

As far as Michigan goes, I can name that tune in three letters:

U.A.W.

Posted by: Crank at April 30, 2004 04:45 PM

Yes, UAW. On the other hand, the rank-and-file UAW member doesn't seem quite so enamored of Kerry as the union leadership. I have a UAW union hall not too far from my house, and union guys live all around me. If Kerry is counting on union votes to win Michigan for him, he better fix a few things fast.

Posted by: JorgXMcKie at April 30, 2004 09:05 PM