Matt Ortega

Last week, FiveThirtyEight posted a story about the shockingly bad ground operation for the McCain/Palin ticket, even in traditional Republican states, and the hits just keep coming:

Nevada:

Conservative activists, operatives and officeholders are anxious about John McCain’s Nevada campaign, fearing the Arizona senator lacks the ground operation and commitment to win Nevada.

Concern grew last week after McCain canceled a Nevada visit. A new Reno Gazette-Journal poll showed McCain trailing by 7 percentage points, with Democratic challenger Sen. Barack Obama competing in traditional Republican strongholds here.

“People I talk to wonder where the campaign is,” said Chuck Muth, a conservative activist who regularly speaks to dozens of other conservatives — north and south — through his newsletter. [...]

A few Republican operatives, who declined to be named, offered blunt criticism.

The McCain campaign is “a joke,” one said. “There’s not a campaign in Nevada. A couple of guys, running around, being incompetent. Or even worse, arrogantly incompetent.”

The consultant said there was no discernible McCain ground game, which is political jargon for the massive effort needed to find likely supporters and get them to the polls.

Indiana:

Even if McCain does visit, there’s also this problem for his campaign: It hasn’t come close to matching other aspects of the Obama effort, such as TV ads, campaign offices, staff and energy, in Indiana.

It’s too late to catch up when it comes to organizing, so a campaign appearance is likely the best step McCain could take. Although such an appearance isn’t likely to decide this race, it would send a message to the GOP volunteers and die-hards the campaign needs to energize.

Michigan, where McCain originally sought to flip a blue state, after the campaign pulled out of the state:

The move threatens to hurt the prospects of Reps. Joseph Knollenberg and Tim Walberg, both of whom have been targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for well over a year. The absence of an active McCain ground game raises the specter that some Republicans could stay home on Election Day, aiding the pair’s Democratic challengers.

Now compare that with Senator Barack Obama’s (D-Illinois) impressive field operation that is helping him close the gap in traditionally Republican states like Virginia, Missouri and Montana. Howard Fineman, writing for Newsweek, noted:

If Sen. Barack Obama wins, the reason–as much as any other–will be a superb ground game.

Obama was not very successful as a “community organizer” in the Chicago housing projects, but he adapted whatever he learned–and whatever knack he was born with–to build an innovative, lavishly financed and meticulously run outreach machine.