advertising to perform the parties’ traditional role of mobilizing voters and popular support; but
the Bush White House, believing that they were out organized “on the ground” by Democrats in
the 2000 election, enlisted the support of the RNC in putting together an impressive grass roots
mobilizing strategy in the midterm elections (Personal Interview with Terry Nelson, August 19,
2005; Franke-Ruta and Meyerson 2004; Personal Interview with Matthew Dowd, July 8, 2004).
Whereas Democrats since the New Deal had relied on auxiliary party organizations like labor
unions to get out the vote, the GOP created a national organization to mobilize support without
the benefits, and costs, of independent constituency groups. Depending on volunteers, albeit
closely monitored ones, and face-to-face appeals in the states and localities, the Republicans
greatly strengthened the national Republican machine, preparing the groundwork for an even
more ambitious national grass roots campaign during the 2004 elections (Personal Interview with
Matthew Dowd, July 8, 2004; Bai 2004).
The Republicans’ grassroots efforts during the 2002 election campaign were central to
their success at the polls (Jacobson 2003:15). These efforts were on full display in a critical,
highly competitive contest in Georgia, where an emphasis on direct, person-to-person contact
and the organization of local campaign volunteers helped Republican challengers defeat
freshman Democratic Senator Max Cleland and incumbent Democratic governor Roy Barnes.
Cleland and Barnes “far outspent their Republican rivals and still lost (Adams 2002a; Jalonick
2002; Cook 2002).” In key races across the country the GOP grassroots organization was
particularly effective in helping to boost turnout of Republican loyalists over that of Democrats
(Jacobson 2003:15). As election analyst Charlie Cook argued,
On a mechanical level, Republicans were able to get out their vote more successfully
than they have at any point since 1994...the overall election returns and anecdotal
evidence suggests that Republican turnout, particularly whites in small towns, rural areas,
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