Innovations

The Obama campaign's old-media strategy has been fairly stale, but they are implementing some very innovative practices that look to the future of campaign communications.

I think the Kerry campaign announced their Vice Presidential selection via email, but Obama is taking this a step further by texting the announcement. It's a gimmick, to be sure, but the goal is to obviously sign up a list of a million or so texters to deliver instant communications throughout the election season. More and more young people are using text messages as a primary form of communication, so this is simply smart. I could see them doing "text banks" to put messages out or GOTV.

The other innovation, which they've done consistently since the primaries, is this idea of mass phone banks, which will get a new makeover in Denver.

On Thursday, August 29, 80,000 people will line up to enter Invesco Field in Denver. Greeting them at the gates will be a squadron of federal agents with magnetometers. Security is important; everyone will be carefully screened.

Even with a few dozen magnetometers, though, the queues will be long. 80,000 people will be antsy, sweaty, excited, bored. Presciently, Obama's convention planners realize this.

They're drafting a plan to pass out thousands of cell phones, and with them, lists of persuadable voters from their database along with their home telephone numbers. The idea is to encourage the line-waiters to use their time productively and in service to the cause. One giant phone bank, in other words, waiting to pass through the mag lines.

That's a brilliant idea. Campaign events don't necessarily turn voters around; but they aggregate masses of supporters in one place, and that makes them a perfect time to engage them in mass action. Obama's campaign has really innovated in this area, creating almost flash mobs of citizen participation. With Obama's strategy predicated on massive turnout, this is actually crucial to victory as well.

Meanwhile, at the Old Fart Saloon, this enthusiasm is wanting on the Republican side.

Republicans aren’t exactly planning to avoid the convention in droves. But compared to past conventions, lawmakers, lobbyists and candidates aren’t beating a path to St. Paul either.

Of the 12 Republicans running in competitive Senate races — five of whom are incumbents — only three have said they will be attending the convention. Six are definite no-shows, and three are on the fence.

“Nobody likes a funeral,” said a Senate Republican press secretary who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing “the overall climate of general malaise about the party” as the reason for hesitance on the part of Republicans.

I know the media wants everyone to believe this race is close, but the enthusiasm gap makes it hard for me to believe.

UPDATE: I missed this the first time around (h/t kos):

"I would definitely say that people aren’t as excited about going to Minneapolis as they were about going to New York City," said Matthew Keelen, president of the Keelen Group, a D.C.-based lobbying firm. "Minneapolis is a nice city, but it doesn’t quite have the environment and reputation of a New York City, and I think 2004 was a unique convention and a lot of it had to do with where it was," he said.

They hate middle America. No good cigars or lobbyists there, I guess. What a bunch of hypocrites.