There has been a lot of talk about Ed Fallon's volunteer base, mostly because that is all his campaign can afford at the moment. However the efforts of Boswell's ground game should not be overlooked. According to FEC reports, not only does Boswell have a significant amount of money to fight the Republicans in November, but he has more boots on the ground.
The Boswell campaign has been working hard to continue to engage Democrats in the primary and involving new people into the political process. Take a look at this article from the Des Moines Register:
“However, requests for absentee ballots, an early indicator of voter interest, among Democrats in Polk County were running ahead of requests in 2006, the result of a push by U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell.”
In this historic election year, with an impressive organization like Leonard Boswell's, we can make sure Iowa turns blue again come November.
8 Comments
the absentee ballot push
will probably help Boswell a lot.
I would imagine that some of the unions backing him also have boots on the ground.
After the results are in, I would encourage you or RealWorld or some other Boswell supporter to write a diary about what you consider the best and worst moves of the Boswell campaign over the past five months.
desmoinesdem Tue 3 Jun 11:22 AM
desmoinesdem
I think thats a good idea and would be happy to do it. I just hope all this primary fuss is over democrats can come together. And thank you newtondem for writing this diary I have been overly impressed with the boswell ground campaign. Everything from abesentees to drake and grinell early voting to GOTV that have shocked me. I know the boswell people have a big phone bank in AFSCME and the other unions have done some big pushes for them as well. I guess in a little over 9hrs we will see what happens
therealworld Tue 3 Jun 11:35 AM
people will come together
if Boswell wins the primary. They may not volunteer for Boswell, but they will vote for him.
If Fallon wins the primary, which I think is possible but not likely, it will be much more challenging for the Democrats to come together. Boswell would need to show real leadership to make that happen.
I am not too worried about Obama beating McCain in Iowa. Getting to 270 electoral votes is not going to be easy for him, though. I think he should choose a running mate who will help unite the party–if not Hillary, then at the very least a Clinton loyalist like Wes Clark.
desmoinesdem Tue 3 Jun 11:43 AM
wow
it is kind of scaring me desmoinesdem that i am agreeing with you on things. I think it would be very hard for some of the veterans and moderates to rally behind fallon. In terms of Obama winning iowa i think it will be tougher than you think just because of how some of the clinton supporters and moderates/independents are felling about everything. I agree Obama needs a vp choice along those lines. I do not think he will take hillary because there is too much bad blood and choosing them goes against his whole message. however i think he should do what clinton did in 92 and not find someone to balance him but rather go along with much in the way clinton chose another dlcer gore. Wes clark wouldnt be a bad choice
therealworld Tue 3 Jun 12:01 PM
Boz will have the same problem
I’ll have to disagree with the two of you on the unity issue. After the extremely negative campaign Boz has run, it will be very hard for us hardcore fallonistas and progressives of various sorts to vote for Boz. A protest vote for a green party candidate or a moderate R (what’s the difference anyways, we might think) may look real attractive. And deep in their hearts most “real Democrats,” as Boz would put it, agree on more issues with Fallon than Boswell. So I think many rank and file D’s will be happy to vote for Ed even if Boz was their first choice.
To be fair, I don’t think party unity will be any easier if Fallon wins. The unease about Fallon among certain groups is real. But it will be a real issue for Boz as well. No matter what, whoever wins will likely go to DC on strong Obama coattails in our district.
rf Tue 3 Jun 3:17 PM
Fallon uniting Democrats
While there are some Democrats in the district who may not like Fallon, he would vote in Congress more like a Democrat than Boswell has for most of his career. Boswell is more conservative than this district. He has under-performed (by thousands of votes) not only mainstream Democrats like Culver but a liberal/progressive Democrat like Harkin. Fallon doesn’t hold grudges, so he will be happy to work with the IDP to see that Democrats carry the day come November.
heartland-dem Tue 3 Jun 3:26 PM
heartland dem never ceases to amaze me
First off this is not a liberal district i do not understand how you guys havent figured that out yet. A lot and I mean a lot of moderate dems would not vote for fallon, and the moderate republicans and independents that have supported boz and given him win after win would not support fallon. I agree some of the hardcore fallonites probably won’t vote for boswell but he has never relied on there votes to win in the past anyways. And i am sure fallon would be happy to work with the IDP in the fall if he were to win today but he could not afford the 150000 or watever it is to buy in. I do not agree that Fallon would win in this district because he can not and win the crossover needed to win this district in the general. Fallon is basically a bad nominee all around! Basically i disagree with everything you said. As usual
therealworld Tue 3 Jun 5:37 PM
But the Republican candidate has no base
Its hard to beat something with nothing. I doubt there will be enough anti-Fallon votes to compensate for the fact that there is no top tier Republican candidate.
And Fallon is popular with independents, not just left wing dems.
philo Tue 3 Jun 6:30 PM