It's important to note that not all precinct captains make the same contribution to a campaign. Some help only on caucus night, others do lots of volunteering in their neighborhoods for months in advance. I have met precinct captains who have been on the phones or knocking on doors every weekend since the summer.

The Dean precinct captain in my neighborhood four years ago didn't do many voter contacts at all. He was shocked by how many Kerry and Edwards supporters showed up on caucus night, but he shouldn't have been if he had been doing his job.

http://firstread.msn...

For months, I have wondered what they were up to with the Oprah effect. Then the news came (from the firstread link above) that “Obama's much-coveted precinct captains and volunteers are being offered choice tickets to the two Oprah-headlined events. That's an incentive for interested supporters to sign up for the job in the hopes of future perks — and with 1,784 precincts to organize on caucus night, that could be a major boost to thicken the spine of the campaign's presence in far-flung areas of the state.”

This will pretty much ensure that they have 99.99% of the needed precinct captains, and build a momentum to the finish line. No matter your preferred candidate, this has to be recognized as a clever strategy by the Obama campaign. What makes me even more impressed is that I see that it would have been possible for the Clinton campaign to also use Bill as an ace like that, but they didn't think of it (nor did I! and perhaps neither did you too). Instead, they dispatched him all over Iowa, and he made gaffes on the way (falsely saying that he opposed the war from the beginning), and he is now old news. Too late now for the Clinton camp to copycat, even with another celebrity.

Bill Richardson has managed one legislative endorsement, from State Rep. Marcella Frevert of Palo Alto County, back on November 21.

Richardson was endorsed by Marcella Frevert, whose son works for the campaign.  That's his only state legislative endorsement so far.

And Obama's got strong support in Eastern Iowa, which some experts will tell you is the most important place to get support in order to win.  But based on the few rural areas that I tend to look at as indicators of where things are headed, I think his support there is greater than some folks expect.  And he's been able to build pretty huge crowds everywhere.  Even if not everyone who shows up to one of his events is a supporter, I think that says something about his campaign's ability to get caucus-goers motivated enough to leave their homes.

Does Richardson have any state legislative endorsements yet? Last I heard he did not, which surprises me.

Do you sense that Obama's support is as evenly spread across the state as Edwards' and Clinton's? Or is he particularly strong in eastern Iowa?

Does Richardson have any state legislative endorsements yet? Last I heard he did not, which surprises me.

Do you sense that Obama’s support is as evenly spread across the state as Edwards’ and Clinton’s? Or is he particularly strong in eastern Iowa?

Richardson was endorsed by Marcella Frevert, whose son works for the campaign.  That’s his only state legislative endorsement so far.

And Obama’s got strong support in Eastern Iowa, which some experts will tell you is the most important place to get support in order to win.  But based on the few rural areas that I tend to look at as indicators of where things are headed, I think his support there is greater than some folks expect.  And he’s been able to build pretty huge crowds everywhere.  Even if not everyone who shows up to one of his events is a supporter, I think that says something about his campaign’s ability to get caucus-goers motivated enough to leave their homes.

Bill Richardson has managed one legislative endorsement, from State Rep. Marcella Frevert of Palo Alto County, back on November 21.

http://firstread.msn...

For months, I have wondered what they were up to with the Oprah effect. Then the news came (from the firstread link above) that “Obama’s much-coveted precinct captains and volunteers are being offered choice tickets to the two Oprah-headlined events. That’s an incentive for interested supporters to sign up for the job in the hopes of future perks — and with 1,784 precincts to organize on caucus night, that could be a major boost to thicken the spine of the campaign’s presence in far-flung areas of the state.”

This will pretty much ensure that they have 99.99% of the needed precinct captains, and build a momentum to the finish line. No matter your preferred candidate, this has to be recognized as a clever strategy by the Obama campaign. What makes me even more impressed is that I see that it would have been possible for the Clinton campaign to also use Bill as an ace like that, but they didn’t think of it (nor did I! and perhaps neither did you too). Instead, they dispatched him all over Iowa, and he made gaffes on the way (falsely saying that he opposed the war from the beginning), and he is now old news. Too late now for the Clinton camp to copycat, even with another celebrity.