OFA's job will be more difficult in midterms

The midterm elections will be a greater challenge for the Obama machine than the presidential campaign.

In the latter, the campaign organization could concentrate on promoting a single candidate, and on dissecting a single opponent.

In the midterms, they are dealing with hundreds of elections all over the country, just taking into account the congressional races. Of course, they can help volunteers connect with their local candidates, but it will be harder to help them with things like local issues and the lay of the land.

In most cases, they will have to leave that up to the local branches of OFA if such organizations exist. The self-organizing principle will be even more important than it was during the primary campaign.

One area where OFA can be very helpful is in getting out the vote in the last few days before election day.



President Barack Obama used the homey backdrop of a middle-class Ohio family's backyard Wednesday to try to show voters he shares their concerns about the economy, health care and social security. (Aug. 18)