How's Democratic 'troop morale' in Iowa?

Oster said Iowans “saw the character of the man” when he competed in the state last January.  He sees as a critical indicator “the number of people knocking on doors, the number of people in this campaign who are involved for the first time. There are a lot of people who have not been involved before.”

Oster said he’ll be doing his part by organizing on the Drake campus, making sure that students — whatever state they come from – vote in Iowa for Obama. A potential edge for Obama: Iowa will allow same-day voter registration, so last-minute “impulse buyers” might supply a batch of votes for Obama. 

Democratic tide in Iowa
Gronstal said the tide is Democratic in the state.

“We’ve got 60 percent of the [state] Senate; that’s they highest we’ve ever been,” Gronstal boasted. “That’s higher than we were in the farm crisis (of the 1980s), higher than after the Democratic landslide of 1964, and higher than we were in the Great Depression.”

“When we look at our benchmark polls in our competitive legislative districts, we are very encouraged by the numbers we see for Barack Obama,” Gronstal said.

“We don’t measure statewide polls; we look at individual polls in individual state Senate districts. We don’t look at hopelessly Republican districts and we don’t spend money to poll in a hopelessly Democratic district. We measure toss-up districts. Obama looks strong.”

But four years ago, Democrats in Iowa and elsewhere thought that Kerry’s national security credentials and Vietnam War service would make him the winner. Is there similar overconfidence this year?

“I have calluses on my knuckles from knocking on doors. It’s about running smart, effective campaigns. That may have been Sen. Kerry’s mistake. He didn’t respond. He let them take his great strength and somehow translate it into a negative,” Gronstal said.

“We’re not deluded into thinking this is going to happen on its own — it is going to happen through a lot of hard work,” Gronstal said.

He said Obama workers in Iowa “are more committed to the grass roots” than Kerry’s team was and the Obama field effort in his part of the state “much better than Kerry’s.”

Obama’s Iowa director Jackie Norris said the Obama campaign has now opened offices in what she called “tier two” places such as Muscatine, Cedar and Cass counties. “I doubt that John Kerry had field offices there four years ago."

MORE FROM

Section Front

Obama campaign head gets big book deal Officials turn down Franken request Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent Franken lead at 49 with absentees left to count Minn. Senate winner won't be known in 2008 First Read: 'Twas the seventh week of recount... Franken opens first lead in Minn. Senate race Mom of Palin daughter's boyfriend arrested Minn. court weighs rejected absentee ballots Minnesota panel reviews disputed ballots Section Front   Add headlines to your news reader: