Field matters

by | Sep 12, 2016 | 2016 Elections, Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 4 comments

Hillary Clinton has opened at least 30 field offices in North Carolina. Donald Trump has not opened any. Republicans downplay the discrepancy by saying they’ve been knocking on doors and making calls and don’t need bricks-and-mortar space. According to one reporter, the GOP claims that field offices are only necessary for phone banking and their people are walking neighborhoods.

The GOP is really just making excuses for a glaring lack of organization in the Trump campaign. Trump doesn’t understand or doesn’t believe in field tactics. He’s running a giant earned media effort and supplementing it with a little paid advertising. If he weren’t already a celebrity, he would be failing miserably. That he’s still in the game is a testament to his skills as a modern day huckster.

In close races, though, field organization matters. It can make the difference between winning and losing. North Carolina has built a tradition of sophisticated, well-organized field operations since 2008. Obama’s field team that year boosted him over the top, giving him the first presidential win in the state since 1976.

In 2014, while the rest of the country saw a GOP wave election, North Carolina saw a pretty normal off-year election. While Kay Hagan lost by about a point, Democrats picked up three legislative seats in a year when only handful of other states saw Democratic gains. In addition, while turnout was historically low across the country, in North Carolina it was about normal for an off-year election. Democratic field operations probably made up the difference. The GOTV operation might not have gotten a lot of credit but it prevented much larger losses in the state.

This year, Democrats are motivated. They’re mad about voter suppression laws. They’re upset about HB2. They’re angry that, as school starts again, public education is continuing to get short-changed. The field operations, and the offices that house them, give those motivated Democrats a vehicle to channel their energy.

North Carolina is the perfect example of when and where field operations matter and how they can make a difference. Field campaigns can’t close a 10-point gap, but they can make a difference in races that are inside of five points. In North Carolina, top of the ticket races are going to be close. In November, those field offices might determine whether the state is blue or red.

4 Comments

  1. Chris Telesca

    “Field offices work, if they hit the ground running, are well organized and structured. Anything else is just a time limited job for a few college students and house wives….Field offices work, if they hit the ground running, are well organized and structured. Anything else is just a time limited job for a few college students and house wives…(and)…an exercise in futility.”

    We waste a lot of time with phone banking. It’s not as effective a GOTV method as door-to-door canvassing. But door-to-door is really most effective when you have organized precincts and can take a unified slate card for a coordinated campaign and push all candidates up and down the ballot. Minimum personnel required for maximum advantage.

    Otherwise you have the staffers from each campaign trying to get a canvass in all these precincts and there aren’t enough volunteers and free time to go a separate canvass for each candidate.

    Here in my precinct, the GOP is very well organized – because the Wake GOP is still copying Howard Dean’s 50-state/100-county ground game. Republicans come to the polling places with slate cards/sample ballots mailed to them by the Wake GOP.

    Here in NC, the Dems are more concerned about laundering money for the consultants and operatives rather than doing the most cost-effective type of campaigning which would also result in communities organizing to more effectively get their electeds to start working for the community instead of the donors. God Forbid we should interrupt the money-train!

  2. Dean Vick

    As a retired State Employee who worked 32 years in the criminal justice field, 21 of those years directly in the court system understand the importance of education in NC. Education is key to reducing overall crime, reducing prision population, reducing poverty, increasing job growth and growth in the economy. The lack if real leadership in the Governors Office and the General Assembly on this issue is shameful. The reality is that the education budget has failed to keep up with population growth and inflation providing school systems with fewer and fewer dollars per student. The move toward vouchers and charter schools is and has had very mixed result and does not deserve our tax dollars. It is not the answer to public education woes. It is critical that that our elected officials support teacher and other state employees who are the backbone of this state and keeps it going day after day with very little praise. If we are going to move forward and compete with other states and the world investment in education is critical.

    • Norma Munn

      Best description I have read of this boondoggle. I assume that there are some good charter schools somewhere, but they were established prior to the process described by you.
      Even if some good ones exist, I still do not want my tax money spent on charter schools under any circumstances. DV is correct also in his post in pointing out the wide range of gains made by improving public schools.
      I admit to having little faith left in either elected officials or the various teacher organizations, since most of the issues I read about have been discussed since my children were in school, which was decades ago.
      Why do we still have long summer breaks? Everyone knows they set kids back, and today with the majority of families in which both parents work outside the home, it is not really helpful to them. Why is not every child in pre-school? Money? Nonsense, that is simply an excuse to avoid prioritizing the budget spending in NC and other states. Why do we still have giant sized schools? We know they are not a good environment for students. Why quarrel over Common Core? It was developed by the states, not the feds, and with proper teacher support for the changes it envisions, it works. It is not “No Child Left Behind” with its endless tests. Why do we even debate feeding all children breakfast and lunch? No one, adult or child, can focus when hungry. Why do we start high school for teenagers at an hour when they simply cannot focus? Every study on the subject shows it is a waste of the first hour or so of school as these kids are just not alert. Why doesn’t every school and every class have a small library? I could go on, but anyone reading will already be mentally adding their own to this list.

      • Norma Munn

        That bridge could be sold over and over to a lot of elected officials based on what they say and do. Sad, at best, although I am more inclined to consider it blind folly at tax payer expense.

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