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Opponents' strategies in Colo. differ

McCain has fewer events; analyst says Obama task bigger

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 24, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Ann Macaulay feeds her baby, Ann Marie Macaulay, and tends daughter Elizabeth Macaulay, 3, while working the phone bank for the McCain for President campaign on Thursday afternoon.

Photo by Ken Papaleo / The Rocky

Ann Macaulay feeds her baby, Ann Marie Macaulay, and tends daughter Elizabeth Macaulay, 3, while working the phone bank for the McCain for President campaign on Thursday afternoon.

Wellington Webb chats at a doorway in the Five Points area after reviving his "sneaker campaign." Webb is stumping for Barack Obama, using the tactic that helped him win election as Denver mayor.

Photo by Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

Wellington Webb chats at a doorway in the Five Points area after reviving his "sneaker campaign." Webb is stumping for Barack Obama, using the tactic that helped him win election as Denver mayor.

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Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb lifted the special pair of New Balance tennis shoes out of their carrying case, sat down and pulled them on, Mister Rogers- style.

"I don't pull these out for just anyone," Webb told the crowd of about 50 volunteers, staff and media gathered in Sen. Barack Obama's Five Points campaign office on a recent Tuesday.

They were the same shoes Webb wore for his 1991 "sneaker campaign," when after running out of money he resorted to walking the entire city - 340 miles - and knocking on doors.

Now Webb planned to wear the old sneakers to blanket Denver for Obama, hoping for the same victorious outcome.

"OK," Webb said as he stood. "We ready to go to work?"

Obama's campaign has enlisted an army of supporters that's been following in Webb's footsteps for months, walking the battleground state of Colorado to canvass neighborhoods and register people to vote.

It's a grass-roots effort many say is unprecedented in Colorado and across the country.

On the surface, it seems like an overwhelming advantage. But the Democratic senator may need the extra help, said Kenneth Bickers, professor and chairman of the political science department at the University of Colorado.

Obama is relying more heavily on first-time voters, a group that requires a lot more prodding to get to the polls, Bickers said. Republicans, by comparison, tend to be older, married - with a support system making it easier for them to go vote - and to have voted more consistently in the past.

"Obama may have more money and more (volunteers)," Bickers added. "But they also have the bigger task."

Sen. John McCain's spokesman Tom Kise said Republicans are practicing "quality over quantity."

"They are like a shotgun; they're all over the place," Kise said of the Democrats, then added a line from the 1997 movie Austin Powers.

"We are like sharks with lasers."

Comparing ground games

The difference between the two presidential candidates' ground games is vast.

Obama has opened 51 offices in Colorado to McCain's 13, and has a paid field organizer overseeing volunteers in each one.

To deal with the media, Obama has three full-time spokespeople in Colorado, while Kise also handles media for six other states.

And on any given day in Colorado, the Obama campaign holds a half-dozen events across the state, often with well-known surrogates such as Webb, Sen. Ken Salazar or Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.

The schedule for McCain events is much sparser.

The Obama strategy was born more than a year ago in Iowa, when the campaign decided to open more offices across the first- in-the-nation caucus state than had ever been opened before.

The theory was that if a campaign is in people's communities, voters will stop in, get involved and take ownership, said Anne Filipic, general election director for the Obama for America campaign in Colorado.

"That really means something, and it changes the way you campaign," Filipic said.

The strategy was successful in Iowa, and soon was being duplicated across the country, including in Colorado. The campaign spent the summer holding house parties and one-on-one meetings to develop relationships with supporters. They built volunteer teams, and selected team leaders.

Those teams then worked with the field organizer to come up with a strategy and goals for their particular area, from canvassing to voter registration and now, voter follow-up.

Today there are more than 250 organized volunteer teams in Colorado, in addition to the traditional volunteers who might stop in once a week to make phone calls, Filipic said. And with offices in places such as Pagosa Springs and Rifle, they are "turning over every rock."

They believe the race will be tight. But right now, "we feel good," she said.

"What you always hope for in a campaign is that at the end it all starts clicking . . . and I think that's happening here."

Focus and fundraising

The McCain campaign has largely relied on an already established Republican organization.

They have county chairs in every county, and in the strongest GOP areas, they are organized down to the precinct level, Kise said.

They don't spend as much time or money on celebrity appearances or other events. But McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have visited Colorado more often than Obama and Sen. Joe Biden.

Kise describes the McCain campaign as more focused, and says it needs to be because Obama went back on his word to take public financing, which limits the amount candidates can raise.

Obama's unlimited fundraising has allowed him to open "a trillion" offices, Kise said.

But he said in some cases the Obama campaign is wasting its time, knocking on the doors of voters it's unlikely to win over.

Bickers, the political science professor, also noted real estate is plentiful these days, and often cheap, so it's not too difficult for the Obama campaign to afford a spot in a strip mall.

Filipic says the Obama campaign considers no effort a waste.

In just the past month, Salazar, former Gov. Roy Romer and Gov. Bill Ritter have taken two rural RV tours, visiting places such as Sterling and Limon, and finding receptive crowds.

Republicans also have a highly sophisticated database of voter information, something Democrats have been building.

The McCain camp uses the information to organize "peer-to-peer" contacts, also known as microtargeting.

On Thursday, for example, they held a "Moms for McCain" phone bank, where women brought their children and called other moms.

George W. Bush used microtargeting successfully in 2004, though Bickers doesn't think McCain is using the strategy as aggressively as Bush did then.

While recent polls show Obama with an edge over McCain in Colorado, Bickers said it could take the full force of the Democrats' grass- roots campaign to get newly registered voters to turn out. "There are a lot more hurdles," he said.

Comparison of events scheduled by the Obama and McCain campaigns on a few randomly selected days this month:

OCT. 13

* OBAMA

* New Energy Economy tour with Gov. Bill Ritter, Mayor John Hickenlooper, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and former Energy Secretary Federico Pena in Ft. Collins, Denver and Colorado Springs

* Campaign Office Visits with Ritter and Pena in Parker, Woodland Park and Colorado Springs

* Pueblo Voter education forum

* Denver Public School Board member Arturo Jimenez represented the Obama campaign at the Conference for Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities

* McCAIN

* Press conference at campaign headquarters with Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson endorsing McCain.

* Press conference in Colorado Springs with El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa and Republican district attorney candidate Dan May.

OCT. 14

* OBAMA

* Five Points canvass kickoff in Denver with former Mayor Wellington Webb

* Blue Star Families for Obama house party in Colorado Springs

* McCAIN

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown press conference in Centennial to support McCain/Palin

Gov. Lingle meet and greet with GOP volunteers in Greeley and Centennial. Lingle also attends phone bank in Centennial.

Actor Eduardo Verastegui endorsed McCain/Palin during a "Values Tour" in Denver and Colorado Springs.

OCT. 15

* OBAMA

Debate watch and mail-in ballot parties with Ritter in Denver, former Fortune magazine Publisher Jim Hayes in Colorado Springs and school board member Diann Rice in Grand Junction, plus other debate watch parties across the state

* McCAIN

Gov. Lingle at South Metro Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in Greenwood Village

Debate watch parties across the state.

OCT. 16

* OBAMA

* Economic Tour with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano in Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs

* Durango Main Street meeting with Sen. Ken Salazar and Ritter

* Ute tribal leader meeting in Durango and Cortez Farm Bureau forum with Salazar

* Longmont voter education forum with Rep. Linda Sanchez

* Jefferson County Undecided Voter Forum with Hickenlooper

* McCAIN

* Roberta McCain, John McCain's mother, calls campaign office to speak to a "Mommies for McCain" phone bank.

* Annual GOTV Rally hosted by Latino Chamber of Commerce of Pueblo

* Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Colorado Hosts "The 2008 Election, what will we see from the Hispanic community?"

OCT. 17

* OBAMA

* Main Street Meeting in Berthoud with Colorado policy director Joy Silvern

* Adams County volunteer meet and greet with Rep. Linda Sanchez

* Denver educators meeting with Rep. Linda Sanchez

* Ft. Collins seniors forum with State Sen. Bob Bacon

* McCAIN

* Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer "Economics Tour" in Denver, Fort Collins and Longmont, and chili dinner in Fort Collins with GOP volunteers.

Weekend campaign battleground

TODAY * Sen. John McCain will hold rallies in Denver and Durango.

National Western Arena

4655 Humboldt St., Denver

Doors open at 8 a.m.

McCain speaks at 10 a.m.

Tickets required; call 303-952-4670 or www.johnmccain.com

Durango High School football field

Doors open at 3 p.m.

McCain speaks approximately 6 p.m.

RSVP online at www.johnmccain.com

* Sen. Hillary Clinton will campaign for Sen. Barack Obama.

General's Park

1561 N. Quentin St., Aurora

Gates open at 3:30 p.m.

The event is open to the public.

SUNDAY

* Sen. Obama returns for two events Sunday.

Denver's Civic Center

Public entrance on 14th Avenue, between Bannock Street and Broadway

Gates open 10 a.m.

Program begins 11:30 a.m.

RSVP encouraged at www.co.barackobama.com

The Oval, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Public entrance at University Avenue and West Drive

Gates open 1:30 p.m.

Program begins 3:30 p.m.

RSVP at www.co.barackobama.com