Obama may not be campaigning in Texas, but is recruiting
Candidate seeks volunteers to help in swing states
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Oct. 24, 2008, 10:56PM
— Texans, the Democratic presidential campaign of Barack Obama wants you — in
Colorado, New Mexico or Ohio.
In a general election where neither Obama nor Republican John McCain is
campaigning in Texas, Obama is drawing on a base of enthusiastic supporters he
built during the March primary to help build a national volunteer army.
"Volunteers in Ohio are working their hearts out. But there's no way they'll
meet their targets without supporters like you stepping up to join the final
push," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in an e-mail to Houston
supporters this week. "We need to fill 845,252 volunteer shifts in battleground
states."
A similar e-mail was sent out to all Texas Obama backers by state director Juan
Sepulveda of San Antonio.
Volunteers from San Antonio and Houston previously have gone to New Mexico and
Colorado, with many of them staying through the election.
Harris County Democratic Chairman Gerry Birnberg said it "grated" on him
earlier this fall when he thought about the Obama campaign taking volunteers
away from his efforts to sweep the county elections this year.
"Obviously, we would have preferred an effort that was more dedicated to Harris
County," Birnberg said.
But Birnberg said it actually has evened out because the Obama campaign was
recruiting people who might not otherwise show up to work for the county party.
He said these future out-of-state volunteers are trained first by block-walking
in Houston and doing phone bank work contacting Houston voters.
"They serve as part of our grass-roots effort until they ship out," Birnberg
said.
Texas Republican Party Political Director Hans Klingler said he is sure there
are Texans volunteering to help McCain in other states, but he said there is no
active recruitment effort for volunteers like there was for President Bush in
2000 and 2004.
National polls have shown McCain should easily carry Texas.
Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the national campaign is trying to help Texas
Democrats by redirecting some of its volunteer base to local races. He said an
e-mail went out to volunteers in key congressional districts recently asking
them to work in local races.
"So we're clearly looking for ways we can leverage energy for Barack Obama to
benefit Democratic candidates in Texas," Earnest said.
Still, even when it comes to television advertising, the Obama campaign's
purchases in Texas are not really directed at state voters. The only commercial
airtime Obama has bought in Texas is in El Paso and Amarillo, directed at
voters in New Mexico.
If you've seen an Obama ad on TV, it is part of a national cable advertising
campaign purchased by Obama and is seen in every state on networks such as MTV
and the Sci-Fi Channel. It's not aimed just at Texas viewers.
While perhaps not enough to sway undecided voters, Birnberg said it is doing a
good job of exciting the Democratic base.
"The Obama ads produce a mindset of imminent victory," Birnberg said. "It has
the effect of making people anxious to participate."
Republican political consultant Brian Berry said Obama's targeted national
cable advertising allows him to reach voters in demographic groups that already
favor him, such as young people, women and blacks.
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