Obama Campaign Sneaky In Michigan

Maybe I'll call posts like these "Hildebrand's Hordes, after the Obama campaign's dynamic deputy campaign manager, Steve Hilderband, who is putting together the campaign's registration, persuasion and field operation for the general election. Actually, Hordes sounds hinky. How about Hildebrand's Hellions?

From today's non-linkable, subscription-only MIRS Capitol Capsule in MI:

Obama Temporary Shop in Lansing

She's from Maryland. He's from New York. For the moment, they are the Obama for President campaign in Lansing.

Laura and Greg, who can't reveal their last names because it is against national campaign policy to do so, are running a voter registration project along with 14 other Obama field offices around the state.

Laura explained that she could "not go on the record with the media" and if she did, she "would get into trouble." She did reveal however that she's been given temporary housing in Williamston and was greeted with a severe thunderstorm over the weekend that knocked out her power and water.

Welcome to Michigan.

Their downtown Lansing office, according to Greg on background, is not the official Obama headquarters and is not exactly a palace. It's about 15 feet by 35 feet and consists of a few chairs, a desk, a refrigerator and a copy machine. They are using Laura's cell phone number for the office phone in what appears to be somewhat of a shoestring operation with no budget so far.

There will not be a grand opening for this temporary office, but Greg thinks there may be one when the official headquarters is found.

"Do you know any places?" Laura with no last name asked.

Comments

I don't get the title. What, exactly, is "sneaky" about this operation?

Posted by Darius | June 10, 2008 2:36 PM

Instead of "what", I'd ask "why" are they being sneaky? Why is it campaign policy to conceal their last names?

Is it that they want to keep this under the radar to avoid a right-wing backlash, with Limbaugh screaming "they're mobilizing the darkies!"

Or is it that they want to keep things on a personal, first-name basis that helps to keep the focus on the movement rather than the individuals?

What do you think Marc?

Posted by nathan | June 10, 2008 2:47 PM

Nathan,

I just think the campaign doesn't want all their volunteers, or even their low-level staffers, talking to the press as if they were somehow bigshots. I think the campaign is (rightly) damn proud of the voter registration efforts that it is putting on and those that are being managed by volunteers on its behalf.

Posted by Andrew | June 10, 2008 4:07 PM

Nathan,

I just think the campaign doesn't want all their volunteers, or even their low-level staffers, talking to the press as if they were somehow bigshots. I think the campaign is (rightly) damn proud of the voter registration efforts that it is putting on and those that are being managed by volunteers on its behalf.

Posted by Andrew | June 10, 2008 4:07 PM

Nathan,

I just think the campaign doesn't want all their volunteers, or even their low-level staffers, talking to the press as if they were somehow bigshots. I think the campaign is (rightly) damn proud of the voter registration efforts that it is putting on and those that are being managed by volunteers on its behalf.

Posted by Andrew | June 10, 2008 4:07 PM

The shoestring is a bit of a surprise, but I am happy to see them at work in Michigan on voter registration.

John McCain Wants To Overturn Roe v. Wade

Posted by Hilltopper | June 10, 2008 5:37 PM

I am not sure why this is considered "sneaky." It is standard for just about any campaign to limit who can speak to the press. Just about the first thing a field staffer is taught is to say they cannot talk to the press and offer the reporter the number to the campaign's communication shop. It is about controlling the message and freeing up field staff to actually work in the field, as opposed to doing the job of the communication department. There is nothing "sneaky" about this at all.

Posted by JB | June 10, 2008 6:20 PM

Obama is Chauncey Gardener in the Peter Sellers movie, "Being There".

Posted by Ted | June 10, 2008 7:06 PM

Plus, there are also Party and Union field operations as well. Keeping a low profile means that local politics doesn't get stepped on.

The big issue here is the development of an Obama team in Michigan. Without the advantage of organizing for the primary, they do not yet have a strong network of their own volunteers. So offices like this would be most useful for identifying the potential supporters. This also gives the campaign more negotiating strength with the Party when it comes to allocating resources.

Posted by Harris | June 11, 2008 8:59 AM