Turnout Titans Meet Michael Whouley and Morton Blackwell, the gurus of getting out the vote

Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal ^ | Oct 25, 2004 | John Fund

[Mike Fieschko]

If John Kerry is elected president, he will have many people to thank, but the list may start with Michael Whouley. A legendary Democratic field operative, the reclusive Mr. Whouley is in charge of the thousands of Democratic grassroots organizers who are charged with getting out the vote.

Similarly, if George W. Bush wins he will owe a great deal to Morton Blackwell, a GOP national committeeman from Virginia, who helped persuade the party to supplement its paid advertising with a ground game that worked so well in Senate races in 2002 that it became the model for this year's GOP get-out-the-vote efforts.

A candidate's GOTV efforts can be the key to victory, and a bad effort is an easy way to blow a lead and lose an election. "When elections are close, people always credit an effective ground game with between one and three points," says Teresa Vilmain, a key player in Democratic efforts to bring their base vote to the polls.

Ms. Vilmain told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that in Wisconsin the Democrats now have 348 paid workers, compared with only 70 in 2000, when Al Gore carried the state by 5,708 votes. Another 44 student coordinators are in charge of getting out the vote on college campuses, a drive aided by the Wisconsin's status as one of six states where people can register to vote on Election Day.

Republican officials in Wisconsin say they have 50,000 volunteers signed up, each of whom has pledged to try to bring 50 voters to the polls. "There is often so much advertising at the end that many voters tune it out and rely on family, friends, co-workers or the volunteer knocking at the door to motivate them to vote," says Rep Scott Jensen, a former speaker of Wisconsin House.

[Elle Bee]

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[truthandlife]

Good piece and I know the Republicans are highly organized for this election and I don't know if the Dems are as highly trained. I know they have a lot of paid staff in the field but I don't believe their plan is as good as the Republicans.