Right here is the meat of the logistical issue - if the campaign doesn't take GOTV seriously, it founders - you need your best managers running GOTV - folks who can coordinate a lot of parallel activities.
For all you know, the writer’s unnamed “spontaneous activists” consisted of three GOP hacks who weren’t happy with anything. Or, he could have made it up. That’s the danger of unnamed sources, especially when the person doing the talking has his broad brush out.