Obama Camp Ramps Up California Efforts

Mitchell Schwartz, California Director of the Obama Campaign, sixteen years ago ran the Clinton Campaign in New Hampshire, when Bill was the upstart and the agent of change. "I've learned a lot just campaign-wise since then," Schwartz said to me in his office. "I'm better at it. I'm not sure--well, what I know is that, what I feel is that, when we started back then, nobody thought we could do it. Now it's the same kind of thing. And now they saw pretty quickly--Bill and Hillary Clinton--that Obama could do it." Aside from the obvious irony of the role reversal, what's remarkable is that Schwartz told me this when I interviewed him on December 20, 2007. What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Obama won Iowa; Clinton came back in New Hampshire. Now California's 370 "pledged delegates" are the prize, and Mitchell Schwartz is no longer in the corner of the ring with the Comeback Kid.

"I haven't been full-time on one [a campaign] since the '92 one," Schwartz says. "I did a ton of work for Gore, Villaraigosa and Boxer, Davis and all those people--but not like this. But I got inspired and thought, in my small way, to make a difference--but that's what this campaign has attracted. And those are the best campaigns--there aren't that many, and I haven't been around one in a long time. It attracts the right people--you know, this is the first time I've been in this [Sacramento] office, and all this stuff has been donated."

Schwartz strolls down memory lane. "In '84, I remember thinking--I was working for John Glenn and then Walter Mondale, and I remember--that famous campaign, Hart came in second; he went from nowhere to winning New Hampshire by 18 or whatever it was. McCain, similar type thing." Schwartz refuses to make any predictions for '08, except to say that "I always thought McCain would come back. He's a good man, a steady guy."

When I ask him why Hillary Clinton has the middle-class Hispanic vote, Schwartz pushes back. "Not at all! One of the myths--look at the [December] Field poll--she is only up 20 in Latino voters. The first couple of polls, September, October, we were getting slaughtered in the Latino population--I don't want to make too much of it--but 42/22, that's far from sewn up. Far from it."

Skeptical, I mention two "low donor" Clinton events that I've covered where the numbers of Hispanic women have been significant. I mention the Clinton rally in Oakland, where that certainly was the case. "I don't know enough about Hillary Clinton's campaign--we try not to pay attention to it," Schwartz says.

The party din outside the inner office is growing louder, so I let that one pass. Quickly, Schwartz is going to have to go out and greet the local movers and shakers. We've spent close to an hour with the chitchat in which Schwartz, like most high-end political operatives, excels: conversing genially and at length about nothing much at all. He's confessed that, like New Hampshire in '92, he's "also gained 25 pounds." Schwartz has reminisced about Don Fowler, DNC party chairman in the Dukakis days, as well as other political Fowlers he has known--even as I protest that I'm not related to Don Fowler; that I'm not a Fowler myself, merely married to one--and finally, in desperation, that we're not related to the animal kingdom Fowlers either.

When Schwartz rolls out the usual spiel about strategy--"no campaign has done what we're doing in California since RFK"--I try to head him off, remarking that I've been covering the Obama grassroots since June and therefore know something about it. "We've got a training program, Camp Obama"--I forestall him, saying that I've met many volunteers who went to Camp Obama.

"It's like meeting a born-again Christian," I say. "I can recognize them [campers] at the door. I'm serious about that."

Schwartz is taken aback. At last, I have his attention. "I hope you mean that as a compliment," he says. I assure him that I do--that the sense of empowerment in former campers is palpable. One of the small but significant stories of Election 2008 is Camp Obama, where each volunteer learns the importance and worth of telling his or her own story. This, it seems to me, is a political tool that will be honed and wielded, even more extensively, in future elections.

We get into volunteer recruitment. "What people really want to do is organize events," Schwartz says. "But what we need them to do is phone bank and canvass. Canvassing is really difficult." I tell him that I've followed several Obama canvasses and know just how hard it is.

"The barking dog is the choral accompaniment to the canvass," I say, before remarking that every time I follow a canvass there's at least one person who's afraid of dogs.

"I'm scared of dogs," Schwartz says. "Once I was fighting this little kid, when I was little, and he had this classic obnoxious older brother, and their German Shepherd went after me and pinned me; and I never got over that."

Well, that's about the most I get out of Mitchell Schwartz: his fear of dogs. But then he goes on to say, "Now we've got a real legitimate shot at this thing. There's no guarantee." His tone is philosophical; in that California way, he exudes Zen calm. This is the atmosphere, beneath the surface festivity, at the field office launch party. Buffy Wicks, California field director, even though she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks, wears about her the same composure.

"What we've been able to do in California, is we've been able to build an infrastructure, a bunch of paid staff, a press operation, a surrogate operation, a political operation, mostly field people--but we have this," Schwartz says, before leaving to greet his guests. "This is our fourth office that we're opening. . . . It's a little deja vu. We rolled the dice in '92. And all the young people, it could've been from twenty years ago."

The Obama Campaign now has seven field offices in California, with the opening of the Palo Alto office on January 13.

Comments

[ClaudiaJean]

Someone claiming to be with the Obama campaign called my home early this morning.
Without so much as taking a breath he launched into a pre-scripted reading about how I saw what happened in Iowa, that the Obama campaign was grassroots and they needed my help and money to win South CArolina.
I explained my candidate was out the race and I had yet to decide which of the remaining candidates would get my support and my vote.
When asked who my candidate was, I replied Biden.
The child-volunteer on the line then proceeded to say "BIDEN ENDORSED OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN THOUGH DIDN'T HE?"
Um,
a) no, he publicly stated he's endorse none of the candidates during the primary but would work for the eventual Democratic ticket
b) how dare you attempt to imply that Biden endorsed Obama. I know the truth. How many people might not and is that an approved tactic by the campaign hoping to lured the disenfranchised Biden, Dodd and Richardson supporters?
c) if you didn't know that, and you aren't employing a tactic but were genuinely asking ME for clarification (really - that was this kid's backpeddling claim) you should go back to your guidebook or primer and review the "how to communicate with potential supporters on the phone" section.

All this unfortunate phonecall did was ensure that the Obama campaign would see no money as a result of this volunteer's efforts.

[gcee]

This is not only the message of the campaign, but of America itself! It always has been and we always knew it.

"In spite of incredible odds, those who love their country can change it"

America has always been defined by the participation of her people. This is not new and we can do it again.

Yes We Can!!!

[resonate]

Woot! Im going to go find the closest Obama office and see what I can do.

[BitJam]

I keep telling myself I need to stop reading about politics. It gets me too upset. But it feels that we are on a knife-edge between restoring some sanity on one side and continuing the insanity and a descent into chaos on the other. I think my work for Obama is a little selfish. I want to work hard and I want a lot of other people to work hard and then I want to win and in winning I will feel connected to all those other people just like I felt a connection while white water rafting and raft was almost vertical and it was slowing slipping down into the maelstrom behind us. I thought "Oh ****!" and dug my paddle into the water with all my might even though my efforts alone would not save us. Miraculously, everyone else had the same exact reaction and the same response. We all dug into the water together and our group effort saved us. It all happened in an instant but I will carry that feeling for the rest of my life. Part of me wants Obama to win because I think it would be good for our country and the world. But part of me wants him to win so I can feel that connection again.