Teabillies very worried about African American voters (X-post from GD)

[Scuba]

The McHenry County (Illinois) Republican Party has been taken over by the teabaggers, and last week the head bagger in the County sent out an email to her fellow Republicans that copied the article I've linked to below. They're really worried that Democrats are going to GOTV, "in particular, Democrat-leaning African Americans" ... "by playing to African Americans fears that a (Tea Party) victory in the state would risk stepping 'back to the bad old days'".

Oh noes, those awful African American voters are on to the Tea Party! And RINO's are helping them!

And they think this is bad news for Republicans because only teabillies are true conservatives. Or something. They seem to lack any sense of self-reflection, ignoring their racist rants and awful policies. These are the people who sent Joe Walsh to Congress, for crying out loud!

This part is funny. The Tea Party thinks "there is no major Democratic campaign that does not employ the latest voter identification technology along with dozens, if not hundreds of experienced and professional field staff tasked with organizing assigned communities."

Oh, how I wish this were true. I certainly saw no evidence of it working in two different Wisconsin County Democratic Party offices in 2010 and 2012.


Anyway, here's the article in question.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/210867-why-thad-cochrans-victory-should-worry-republicans

Since 2008, Democratic campaigns across the country have placed a premium on field and GOTV operations. Pioneered by the first Obama campaign, Democratic operatives across the country have honed their skills in field work and developed the technology to go along with it. Nowadays, there is no major Democratic campaign that does not employ the latest voter identification technology along with dozens, if not hundreds of experienced and professional field staff tasked with organizing assigned communities. The objective of a field program is simple: to build an organization that can effectively identify likely supporters and make sure they turn out to the polls on Election Day. Although the Democrats have become experts at turning out their base, Republicans have always lagged far behind in their technology and organizing strategy. It is rare that we see Republican campaigns with truly effective field programs, and their overall strategy focuses much less on turnout than their Democratic competitors. That is, until Thad Cochran.

...

The Cochran campaign, headed by Republican National Committeeman Henry Barbour, did something of genius between June 3rd and June 25th. They took a page out of the Democratic playbook and pumped their resources into creating an effective GOTV operation.

...

The strategy worked. In Mississippi's 24 counties with a majority black population, turnout increased an average of 40 percent over the June 3rd primary. In some counties, the increase was close to 100%! (In the other 58 counties with majority white populations, the increase was only 16 percent.) This resulted in thousands of additional votesfor Cochran, most of which were African American. Cochran’s margin of victory was 6,693 votes, and it is safe to say at least 5,000 of those are from African Americans who did not vote in the initial primary.

This election proves that field programs work, especially in African American communities. And when African American communities vote, Democrats overwhelmingly win. Across the country, state Democratic parties have had field staff on the ground prepping for 2014 elections for months. Democratic campaigns are dumping huge amounts of money into organizing and creating robust GOTV plans. The staffers on the ground in battleground states such as Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Kentucky are experienced and professional products of the Obama generation of campaign operative. If it is possible for Cochran, a 76-year-old establishment Republican to turn out African American Democrat voters in droves during an off-season runoff primary, it is possible for any Democratic candidate to make sure the same communities turn out in November by using the resources and expertise Republican operatives simply do not have. GOP, you have been warned.

[Dawson Leery]

1. The klan is worried about active black voters.