Obama GOTV: Staging Areas and Hub Directors

Sean Quinn at 538:

What's a Hub Director? In essence, Hub Directors are full-time volunteers who manage the inflow and outflow of volunteers for get-out-the-vote (GOTV) canvassing efforts. Because there are such an enormous number of volunteers for Barack Obama's GOTV efforts in NoVa, the regular field offices simply cannot physically accommodate all the people. (Obama's DC suburbs operation is not alone in this happy logistical challenge.) As GOTV kicks in, separate physical staging locations have mushroomed all over the state and country. These are offices dedicated entirely to GOTV, and in turn many have their own satellite locations. ...

It's the same here in Philly.

[O]ne of the wall lists that adorn every Obama office [has] positions like "Data Trainer," "Phonebank Captain," "Master Trainer," and so forth, with names, numbers and shift times filling the wall sheets. As Peyser managed "runners," those volunteers responsible for going back and forth from the Hub Director team to the GOTV staging locations with information, literature refills, and any other items needing to be shuttled, she told us about the GOTV shift plans.

On Election Day, beginning at midnight until 3 am, Obama canvassers will quietly drop literature at the houses of sporadic voters who commute long distances beginning as early as 4 am. A small reminder piece of literature about Election Day needs to hit those voters at a precisely-timed moment: before they begin their long workdays. Another canvassing shift goes from 5-8 am, another no-knocking lit drop, but timed to voters who would be ideally caught at their cars and met with a smile and a reminder about which voting location is his or hers.

Remember, these are highly targeted GOTV-universe voters, ones that have been identified through the massive voter contact effort and/or profiled with Catalist, the Obama team's advanced datamining tool, so these are voters the campaign thinks will vote their way, provided they go vote. Actual knocking on doors will likely begin at 10 am on Election Day. Peyser said that the average canvasser will do a three-hour canvassing shift and be given turf with 30-40 doors, depending on the compactness of the turf. High-density turf will likely have more doors. Turf with more doors will be given to the better, more efficient longtime canvass volunteers. ...

Man, what a tough gig to do that in the suburbs. All the turf in Philly, as you can imagine, is highly compact. A single block is 30 doors. No wasted time walking long distances between addresses.

Adjacent to the Hub Director space is an entire room dedicated solely to walk packet assembly line operations. Priscilla Mendenhall, another full-time volunteer who'd started a walk packet assembly operation at the Fairfax office and moved up to create one in Falls Church, demonstrated her organization. She manages approximately 20 regular volunteers and a myriad of others who assemble 700 walk packets a week. Some come from Maryland, DC, and some are local, people who aren't as comfortable going to the doors but who want to work and help.

Almost all of this is being run by volunteers who have stepped up and taken on the responsibility.

Comments

[anna in philly]

if there are so many volunteers in philly what do we need street money for?

[Jamey]

And to those volunteers, my eternal gratitude. Never before this year had I donated DIRECTLY to a presidential campaign. I feel my sacrifice, insignificant as it is, is fully dignified by the Obama '08 campaign. (Talk about ROI!)

Best of all, we're not afraid to wake up in the morning to Today Show segments on how OUR candidate blew $150k worth of campain dosh on a Neiman Marcus shopping spree...

[winner]

Walking is soooooo hard. My legs get sooooo tired.

[Mithras]

if there are so many volunteers in philly what do we need street money for?

In no particular order: Because you use every tool that helps to win. Because there are some wards where people have been organizing for the party since before some of us were born, where outsiders from the campaign who show up for one or two weekends will not be as effective as, say, in center city. Because ward leaders want it, or else they won't help, and will make a stink about it. Because street money is a pretty important source of income to unemployed or marginally employed workers in some poor neighborhoods. Because we need Bob Brady to help, and it makes Bob Brady look good to let him announce that street money will be paid. Because the campaign is out to win the election, not reform Philadelphia politics. Because there is no reason not to. And because we can afford to pay it.

[k]

for the burbs, you rent a car at 6 am, redline it until the polls close, return it, and take a cab to the after party.

[Joyful Alternative]

If you think the suburbs are bad, try the exurbs, the ones with all those hills. Obama volunteers are out working the exurbs on bicycles.

[Mithras]

Joyful-
Bicycles? Ouch. Thank you for what you're doing.

[bemused]

Did this outside Reno in 2004. It was gruelling. The area has mobile homes parked in large lots, maybe 1/2 acre, in a relatively hilly area.

[markg8]

We had some Chicago DFA guys come out on the train for the first time last summer for Scott Harper (IL-13). Somehow they wound up in precincts out in Warrenville in horse country. Literally 10 acres of horse pasture between homes. Luckily the driver, our state committeewoman stayed with them and they got it all done. Now I meet them at the train station in Westmont with packets and water ferry them to more walkable neighborhoods nearby.