Ground Game:Romney Campaign Targets Low-Propensity Early Voters,Banks on Strong Election Day Turnout

Romney’s political director says his team is more focused on getting people less inclined to vote to send in absentee ballots or go to the polls—and is successfully cutting the president’s lead among early voters.

Rich Beeson, political director of the Romney campaign, is not moved by reports of a huge “ground game” advantage on the part of the Obama campaign.

“The only metric anyone has seen is the number of offices and the number of staff on the ground,” Beeson said. “In Virginia, Obama has 80 offices, we have 26,” he said by way of example. “In Florida the Obama campaign has 100 offices; we have 41.”

As the old saying goes, generals and political operatives are always fighting the last war. Beeson said if the Romney team wanted more offices—or thought they would provide a measurable difference in the vote, they would have opened more offices.

Beeson is a seasoned political hand, having been the political director at the Republican National Committee, among other high-profile posts.

“This isn’t 2008 when we were restricted by funds,” he said. “We didn’t have the money four years ago, but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten how to organize and turn out our voters.”

Speaking from the Romney campaign offices in Boston, Beeson was asked about reports of large leads for Obama among early voters.

“We have a completely different strategy. They are voting their high-propensity voters first,” he said, adding that the Obama campaign want their base vote in the bank as soon as possible. “We know our high-propensity voters will vote; we’re focusing our early voting operation on the lower-propensity voters. We want them to get to the polls or to send in their absentee ballots before Election Day.”

He said he was confident about Election Day voters. “Our turnout will be far stronger.”......

What you say was true before the first debate, but not now. Polls show a 189 degree flip from those who say they were "voting against Obama" to those who say they are "voting for Romney." It's a pretty clear switch. People don't put up yard signs for Romney if they ar voting "against." I am seeing signs in neighbors's yards who have never been political before.

A while a year ago I thought any conservative, including Palin, could beat Obama, over the last six mints talking with OH voters, there is no way other candidates could have pulled this off.

First---and this is critical in he cases of Palin, Santorum, and Newt---none of them has anywhere near the managerial skill or organization to do this. I know people close to both Newt and Palin---friends and very tight confidents--- who have gone on at length about their poor organizational and staffing skills.

I know some don't like hearing this but I know that decision akin in Palin's early organization was horrifically sluggish because she simply wouldn't delegate---everything had to be her call alone. Well, sorry, NO successful organization works lie that. In Newt's case, he constantly had four or five balls in the air and couldn't focus on a campaign.

Whatever one think of his ideological shortcomings Mitt figured out Obama's game and beat him with his on GOTV strategies. I think, given the fact at he DOESN'T have that charismatic Reagan-Clinton-Palin quality, it makes the rallies e's holding all he more amazing. A year later, think he is the only person who could have won.

Whatever one think of his ideological shortcomings Mitt figured out Obama's game and beat him with his on GOTV strategies.

You are 100% correct about Mitt's organizational skill set and it is a major reason I'm voting FOR ROMNEY/RYAN and also against the communist, halfrican, mooselimb, prick that is mooching off of my taxes.

After the election Romney will need every bit of his experience to clean out the internal liberal cockroaches that have infested the gummint.

God speed President Romney...man it like the sound of that...PRESIDENT ROMNEY, UMMMM, UMMMM, UMMMM.

Romney has the managerial skill. I do sense that in the last six months he has gained more conservative timber than he had a year ago, and he will need THAT just as much as his skills.

The one thing that I have REALLY come to like about Romney---and for which he was criticized during the GOP primaries---is that he is ruthless. Good! I WANT that in a president when dealing with the other side. He for the most part seems to "stay above it all," but his minions (in a good sense) work behind the scenes to constantly defeat his enemies---Newt, Santorum, or Obama. I don't think that will change. I'll private mail you one example I don't want to share publicly.

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