The Bush campaign in 2004 had a small, young, and very very good staff in Ohio. They put in 90 to 100 hours a week for months on end. They reported directly to Rove and were very very sharp and well trained. Everyone of them I talked to hoped to perform well enough to become the next Karl Rove in a few years.
Ross County Ohio was the bellwether county for Ohio. Both the Bush and Kerry Campaigns told the media that as Ross County went so would Ohio. I was Republican media liaison for Ross County, Ohio. As a result I often needed to confer with Bush campaign staff. I had easy access to the campaign. I had to know what to tell the media. There was a lot of media here. Even the BBC and ITN from Great Britain were here with crews. I was on the British equivelant of 60 Minutes the weekend before the election.
I got told things that perhaps others were not told. The media would sniff something out from some rumor mill and then hit me with it. I would have to get an answer from the Bush Campaign. So I learned a lot during the campaign that others not involved in the broad picture would not have learned.
I was told by the ITN (the British Commercial TV network) staff that the Demorats polled Ohio about 4 days before the election. It showed Bush winning. I has asked an ITN staffer who was going to win.. He replied, "Bush." I asked how he knew,.. He said, "The latest Democrat internal poll showed Bush winning Ohio." He continued, "Whoever wins Ohio wins the election."
Who ever told the ITN reporter about the Democrats internal poll must not have told Kerry. The rumor mill said it was not smart to give Kerry bad news. The rumor mill said it could cost a Kerry staffer his or her job.
That may be why Kerry was ignorant of what the the hired registration people were doing. I think some people in the Campaign had to know that no one can register 100 people a day. It would be like a first baseman hitting 15 home runs in a game where he only came to bat 3 times.
Some Kerry people fairly hight up had to know. They for some reason did not tell anyone above them.
It appears Bush knew what was going on and Kerry did not.
Thank you and your fellow staffers for your service. It sounds very much like you prevented the Democrats from stealing the election in Ohio. I shudder to think what our situation would now be if Kerry were President. The country owes you a debt of gratitude.