And speaking of GOTV, the Republican Party in Massachusetts tends to have weak organizational infrastructure, and as a result, Brown's campaign is reportedly "hiring scores of paid temp workers from temp agencies to help staff Brown's get-out-the-vote effort, work that's typically handled by unpaid volunteers."
Where have we heard this before? How about in March of 2009 when there was a special election to replace newly appointed Senator Kristen Gilibrand. Here's what I wrote then,
Relying on people who have no investment (be it time or money) in the candidate and the campaign to handle your GOTV is a pretty bad idea. It's one thing if you're talking about having people go out and flyer a neighborhood. It's quite another when you are chasing mail ballots and getting those last minute voters out the door. It's not exactly glamorous work but its absolutely critical. You don't need an educated staff or a well paid staff - you need a hard working staff. If you get outworked during GOTV you lose.
We'll have to wait and see if GOTV carries the day for Coakley and sinks Brown but today's news of the poor Brown GOTV is heartening for Democrats. This weekend Sully was posting email after email from Massachusetts residents who were counting yard signs and noting the large number of Brown signs. As anyone who's worked a campaign knows, yard signs don't vote.
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