MLNer Battleground Report: Hello from Western North Carolina (UPDATED below fold)

by: joesaho

Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 23:23:32 PM EDT

I'm on the ground in Asheville, NC today. My old roommate is getting married tomorrow, and I figured it might be worthwhile to fly down a day early and spend some time at the local Obama office. This is a hilly and very lovely part of the country, at the peak of its fall foliage. Perhaps not as brilliant of foliage as New England at its peak in a brilliant year, but in some years some years the humidity or the occasional Nor'easter reduces New England's leaf peeping index, and I think Carolina wins this year.

But I digress.

I called the Asheville office after booking my flight, and they told me to show up anytime so I did. The office was buzzing all day, with dozens of phonebankers, several canvassers (not trick-or-treating!) a couple kids and a little dog. They put me to work right away calling Obama supporters to check if they had already voted; early voting in North Carolina runs though 5 PM Nov 1. (Saturday). Almost all of the contacts were super friendly (of course, being both North Carolinians and pro-Obama) and it was a lot of fun. Some had already signed up to volunteer so we were just checking they knew about their neighborhood field office so they didn't all pile into downtown Asheville at the same time, and several hadn't volunteered but were interested in getting started. I get the sense that this is a huge GOTV operation here. The only thing that went wrong was an Epson printer that started malfunctioning when a new ink cartridge was installed. I tried to download the drivers and get it to work, but alas could not.(Epson sucks!)

And now, I present for your enjoyment, a homage in the style of 538's Sean Quinn's On the Road, which is itself an homage to Kerouac's On the Road. Here is joesaho on the Road in North Carolina:

Sean has been to battlegrounds all across the country from the Southwest to Pennsylvania, and has come to one sweeping conclusion: McCain's GOTV is nonexistent compared to Obama's. From my small sample of one Obama office, I can say the enthusiasm and activity level is as high as expected here.

As far as other happenings in NC, sitting Senator Elizabeth (Liddy) Dole is down a few points in the polls to Senate challenger Kay Hagan. Dole used to be in charge of the NRSC and was viewed as doing a pretty pathetic job, at least until her successor threw a hissy fit about the problems Republicans have been having in their ranks. Now sinking in the polls, Dole has gone on the attack by accusing Hagan of being a godless heathen. This is a patently dishonest attack, possibly the worst of the 2008 cycle. The response, from as far away as Kansas City, has been pointed.  Campbell Brown took Dole to task as well:

"The information in this ad is so ridiculously misleading, and yet Senator Dole is standing by it and continuing to raise questions about Hagan's so-called godlessness on the campaign trail," Brown said. "Is this really what it has come down to? We are fighting two wars, our economy is a disaster, and Senator Dole's message to voters is to falsely accuse her opponent of not believing in God?"

Later, addressing all politicians who are using such distortions in a desperate effort to "save your jobs," Brown pleaded: "Just say no to your own craven ambition. Just cut it out. Reclaim your dignity! And with only a few days to go, please please just tell us what you think you can do to get this country back on track."

Hagan is suing Dole for defamation, and rightfully so.

And on the state level, I just saw a hilarious, if nonpartisan, TV ad (watching MSNBC in the hotel) for agriculture commissioner. I don't remember the guy's name but his tagline was "Where would we be without agriculture? Naked and hungry - not a pretty sight!" And the Buncombe county Democrats had a neat ad where all the county-level candidates are shown individually, walking with a very purposeful gait. At the end of the ad, they all meet up and shake hands. When I see it I hear the music to A-Team in my head for some reason...

I'm back in CT after more GOTV Saturday and Sunday mornings. To be a little closer to the airport I went out to a satellite staging area in Arden, south of Asheville. This was actually someone's residential house, that's a heck of a commitment and donation to have your home serve as a base for dozens and dozens of volunteers (probably more like hundreds by the time Tuesday comes around). I did a little phonebanking Saturday and canvassing of Obama supporters Sunday. Here are some photos of the area and of the GOTV effort:

We were visited briefly by Kay Hagan's daughter, who was understandably fired up and ready to go given Dole's dirty tactics. I told her that her Mom's response ad was really well done, you can see it here:

This is obviously a different strain of politics that what we have in CT, but the impression I get from reading and talking to Obama supporters is that Carolina is broadening culturally, especially with the outreach to traditionally ignored voters in the state who are supporting Obama and Hagan. But this is just beginning, so it is necessary for Hagan to respond in the way that she did, and I thought it was pitch-perfect for a state transitioning from red to blueish purple.