The day of reckoning in the runoff election between Jim Martin (D) and Saxby Chambliss (R) will be December 2. The volunteer turnout here in DeKalb County is very weak compared with the effort before November 4, and I suspect equally so in the other counties and left-over Obama offices. Maybe people are burned out or busy facing the coming holidays, or retaking their personal lives -- but the fact that there is an important runoff election on December 2 needs to be considered as seriously important. Martin continues to "play nice" in his advertisements, such as they are, and we have not seen any significant uptick in his campaigning activities in the past week/10 days.
Our local Campaign for Change office has welcomed an Obama organizer from Florida, and we have embarked on the usual door-to-door canvassing of neighborhoods and continual phone banking with a new script to match the circumstances of the runoff. These activities will continue up to the day of the runoff election.
But the communication between the Martin campaign and the volunteers available to him has been very poor, and so the runoff event is not attracting the attention and garnering the importance that it should. More below ...
One present example is that Bill Clinton is rumored to be coming to a Martin campaign event in Georgia on Wednesday, November 19, but NOTHING WHATSOEVER has been communicated to the Campaign for Change volunteers as to when and where it will be held. It would be something exciting to tell people about in our daily contacts, but we have no information to tell them except the rumors. Shouldn't the Campaign for Change volunteers who are out canvassing and sitting around tables phone banking have this information to share with others? Can someone please get the communication links between the Martin campaign and the Campaign for Change volunteers up and working????
We could also use a LOT MORE VOLUNTEERS for this final push to help Martin overcome Saxby Chambliss. The fact is that Obama NEEDS Martin in the Senate to help him pass legislation and approve programs that are going to require leadership and votes in the U.S. Senate to pull the country out of its present morass. And Georgia needs Martin to represent its becoming-blue population, now more than ever. Georgia is still emerging as an important center of commerce and industry, and it needs a Senator who understands what undelies that kind of growth.
Any suggestions on how to communicate with the Martin campaign would be welcome. If anyone in the Martin campaign is reading this, would you please get in touch with the Campaign for Change offices and share some information about Bill Clinton's expected appearance in Georgia?