WP,pg1: Obama Tries New Tactics To Get Out Vote in Iowa

[DeepModem Mom]

Obama Tries New Tactics To Get Out Vote in Iowa
By Peter Slevin and Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 31, 2007; A01


Though the Internet is a major part of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, an adviser said: "It's not just a computer-to-computer relationship -- it's a person-to-person relationship. This is Iowa, after all." (M. Spencer Green/AP)

DES MOINES -- In Sen. Barack Obama's Iowa headquarters, young staff members sit at computers, analyzing online voter data and targeting potential backers. They zip one e-mail to an undecided voter and zap a different message to a firm supporter. Depending on the voter, they follow with Facebook reminders, telephone calls, text messages and, most important, house visits. The effort will culminate in what state director Steve Hildebrand calls "the largest grass-roots volunteer operation that Iowa has ever seen."

Whether Hildebrand's boast proves true on Thursday, Obama's campaign has taken a markedly different approach to identifying its supporters and getting them to the caucuses than those of his two main opponents, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

With turnout likely to be decisive in a Democratic race that pollsters call a three-way tie, Obama (Ill.) has built an Election Day operation that combines an apparent edge in technology with the tried-and-true grunt work of a traditional Iowa campaign. Edwards and Clinton have also assembled formidable ground operations, with outside help from labor unions and political interest groups.

Edwards, who has been campaigning virtually nonstop since finishing second here four years ago, is depending on caucus veterans. Strategists for Obama and Clinton are counting on a record turnout, which means inducing caucus neophytes to gather on a cold January night. The chances appear good that more Democrats will participate than ever before....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/30/AR2007123002795_pf.html