Texas two-step political contest

Turning out the vote
John DeLorme, a Hillary Clinton volunteer from the Dallas area, said that the campaign known for its workhorse diligence will use old-fashioned grassroots outreach to ensure that loyalists turn out the vote. "We are on the phone and we are going door-to-door to reach out and make sure the precinct captains are in place," he insisted. Each Clinton precinct captain is charged with recruiting at least 25 voters to come to the evening event.

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte said that the state's Democrats have a long and positive relationship with Sen. Clinton dating back to her days as a volunteer registering Latino voters during the 1972 presidential campaign. "She doesn't need a road map to get to our neighborhoods," said Van de Putte, who predicted that Clinton's "can-do" attitude would be rewarded here.

Outhustled
Since the Nevada caucuses, in which Clinton captured the popular vote but lost the delegate battle by one, her campaign has been outhustled by the Obama team, and that may be unfolding again in Texas. Suzette Watkins, 47, is a former John Edwards supporter whose newfound enthusiasm for the New York senator is evidenced by the wardrobe of "Hillary!" gear she sported to Bill Clinton's recent rally in Arlington, Texas. "I volunteered to be a captain" after the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, she said. "And I haven't had one phone call, one knock on my door, anything."

Watkins is anxious over the shape of her candidate's campaign in the state. "We need more people," she complained. "We're late getting started; we're out of money."

Voter education
DeLorme acknowledged that the campaign's failure to plan for a post-Super Tuesday strategy has hurt Clinton's overall organization in the state. But, he added: "Since February 5, we've worked really hard to catch it very quickly." The longtime Texas activist remembers the call he got from Clinton organizers in January 2007 as part of the campaign's investment in local loyalists. "With key people, they have had contact since the very beginning," DeLorme said.

Still, turnout for the caucus will depend heavily on voter education about the state's unique electoral process, and a big part of that outreach effort is the man whom Watkins came to cheer on. Bill Clinton, along with daughter Chelsea, have crisscrossed the state to explain the system to voters, urging them four or five times during each appearance to spread the word about the evening caucus and early voting, which is already under way.

Turnout has surged in the first few days of early voting -- especially in some of Obama's strongholds like Harris, Travis, and Dallas counties -- to as much as 10 times higher than the first three days of early voting in the 2004 primary. In presumed Clinton territory like El Paso and Bexar counties, turnout is also up but not as much.

That's not for lack of trying on the part of the Clinton campaign. The former president's rallies in Texas during the past week have often been held just beyond earshot of early polling stations in an effort to get Sen. Clinton's supporters to cast an early ballot. At the crowded rally in Odessa, early voters were even rewarded with choice standing room to get a better glimpse of the former commander in chief.

At rally after rally, the often sprawling message of Bill Clinton's stump speeches has a new laser focus. "Will you vote twice for Hillary?" he roars. "Will you do that?"

National Journal staff correspondent James A. Barnes contributed to this report.

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