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Bush's front preople see to it he has a big crowd.

Hey, Ray: give us volunteers and the field staff a break! We are signing people up for tickets for the Lacrosse, WI rally 5/7. We all spent a week lining up volunteers and we have more than we need. Tickets are going like hotcakes w/lines of people there before we are and this is one venue out of a total of 4 or 5. Yes, the automated phone calls to the base got them out to sign up for tickets, but people are taking the maximum number allowed and this is not including the VIP list of reserved tickets for big shots. We had a couple of phone calls from people who live deep in the boonies hoping they could get their tickets mailed to them (nope: photo ID required) while I was there.

Everyone is excited and the people signing up are of all ages and demographics. Everyone is smiling. A major local business is letting us have a table inside his store. On my 2-hr shift yesterday, we had 2 Dems make comments and one was a tad simple, IMO. Everyone else was relaxed, chatty and optimistic.

DH volunteers tomorrow, so well see how his shift goes. There is a 5-day sign up, 5 hrs Sunday and 8 hrs Mon-Thurs.
We are aiming for 4k-8k people.

I am very impressed w/the staff. Our regional campaign manager is a calm young man who is very well-organized and has a couple of local district House races under his belt. I had a chance to meet the regional political director in February and she was quite focused and receptive to hearing complaints from the base.I noticed actions taken by the administration within a week of talking to the PD that addressed the very concerns I relayed to her....concerns we all know here on FR and we all noted action on a few months ago.

The field staffer running my shift Sunday was 19, comes from an inside the Beltway family of Dems (VA) and they are supporting the POTUS. She was a very self-possesed young lady.

So, it is the organization right here in the region, national and local, that is getting the crowd out; heck we ARE part of the crowd! I can tell you that this IS a grass roots campaign. If we had advance men, maybe we could get the city of La Crosse to make shuttles available from the parking areas to the venue, as they do for Democrat candidates. Instead, we are starring any name that is elderly or frail or disabled and who may need help getting to the rally itself and the campaign is providing assistance. Also, we decided among ourselves to note anyone who signs up whom we know is a potential disruptor and to pass that along quietly to the people who can access security.

The local rag is owned by Lee Enterprises and their coverage is anti-Bush. we'll see how they play this.

The focus, esprit and competency I have witnessed so far has been extrordinary.

I wasn't puting you down.

But Kerry came to Cleveland and the Democratic Base did not even know he was coming. I know for a fact that had Kerry even bothered to ask from help from the Teachers Union, Auto Workers , and Building Trade unions there would have been 4 or 5 thousand people to greet Kerry in Cleveland. There was NO ONE!! It would have made great pictures on local TV. It would have been easy to get Democratic volunteers .. but no one informed them or asked them.

Newspapers are not worth a warm pitcher of SPIT in an election. Don't worry about newspapers. Consider this:: Bush has spent 50 million on advertising so far... HOW MUCH of the 50 million was in Newspapers? The correct answer is ZERO DOLLARS. Kerry is spending 25 million in advertising next week. How much of that is in newspapers? The correct answer is ZERO DOLLARS.

Betcha the Bush and Kerry campaigns both know newspapers can't help get anyone elected... cause they can't. Think of it 75 million dollars spent and none of it in Newspapers.

The name of the game is TV and Radio, not newspapers. Newspapers have almost no influence in wining or losing elections.

It is the Bush professionals that make sure people know President Bush is coming. It was Kerrys un-professioals who did not contact any local people to get the ball rolling for him. Both sides have enthusiastic volunteers. It used to be that the Democrats were organized, and the Republicans were not. That is no longer true. It is the Kerry campaign that is not organized enough to make use of his base.

That was the point I was trying to make. Sorry if I offended you.