For insight into the shape of the Obama grassroots turnout machine that Republicans will have to counter in the Fall, look no further than the campaign’s January income/expense filing. For instance:
The campaign’s single largest expense was for Internet advertising: Mr. Obama spent $4.3 million on Web ads in January, about as much as some of the Republican candidates raised.
Also note the following:
Mr. Obama had a payroll in January of close to $3 million, including payroll taxes, suggesting the large campaign staff that is already working around the country to lay the groundwork for his re-election.
What are those ads doing? Recruiting donors and volunteers. What are all those staff members doing? Well, lots of things, but raising money and organizing volunteers are likely at the top of their lists. I’ll say it again and again: online organizing is typically an incremental process that rewards sustained effort. Spending money to build his list and organize its members nine months before election day? The best investment Obama could make, and a good recipe for a 2008 repeat.
– cpd
[…] builds on the January data we saw a few days ago, and it demonstrates the Obama machine’s steady drive to rebuild its […]
[…] Recession and slow recovery. But we’ve already seen that Obama’s campaign is willing to dedicate vast resources to rebuilding its grassroots infrastructure, and the resulting turnout operation promises to dwarf any realistic Republican competition. If […]
[…] Obama’s re-election campaign has already spent heavily on staff and infrastructure, but it’s revealing that they’re continuing to build the data-driven side of their […]
[…] already heard that the Obama campaign has invested heavily in online advertising, primarily aimed at recruiting new volunteers, donors and other supporters. The campaign is also […]