Obama not capitalizing on grass roots, Dukakis says - The Boston Globe

Obama not capitalizing on grass roots, Dukakis says - The Boston Globe: "Michael Dukakis, a former Massachusetts governor, says he's 'baffled' why Barack Obama's campaign has not turned his grass-roots following into a more powerful ground organization."

Huckabee Surges, Obama Gains in Iowa | Print Article | Newsweek.com: "Unlike the GOP race, standings in the Democratic campaign have not changed dramatically since the September NEWSWEEK poll in Iowa. However, Barack Obama has gained some ground, moving to within a point of Hillary Clinton among all Democratic voters (29 percent vs. 30 percent), with John Edwards in third place at 21 percent. Among those most likely to attend the caucuses, Obama has moved substantially ahead of Clinton, 35 percent to 29 percent, while Edwards falls back a bit, to 18 percent. Obama also gets more support from those who say they will 'probably' attend a Democratic caucus (40 percent vs. 27 percent for Clinton). While the Illinois senator's lead among Democratic caucus-goers in this poll is not large enough to be statistically significant, things seem to be trending his way, Hugick said. 'It's evolving into a two-person race, with Edwards hanging on,' he said. The close duel between Obama and Clinton depends a great deal on the way their competing strengths are perceived, the survey shows. Obama is much more likely than Clinton to be viewed as the candidate best able to bring about change (42 percent vs. 28 percent for Clinton) and as more personally likable (41 percent vs. 18 percent). Clinton, however, is viewed far more as the candidate with the right experience for the job (48 percent vs. percent for Obama) and as the person most likely to defeat the GOP nominee (36 percent vs. 27 percent). One potential trouble sign for Hillary, however, is that in contrast to the 2004 Iowa caucuses, when John Kerry leaped into the lead on the basis of his electability, only about one quarter (23 percent) of likely Democratic caucus-goers say they are inclined to support a candidate with the best chance of defeating the GOP nominee."

I agree with Mr. Dukakis At least here in WA, the BO campaign has struck me as top down. Thius is woerf because so much of hos campaign is based on the man's mass appeal

Is the lack of a grass roots effort intentional?

It might be. One issue is the role of such an organization in the Presidential race. Historically grass roots movements have fizzled when they had to take on party responsibilities McGovern, (Gene) McCarthy, Goldwater, come to mind. The only successful grass roots effort that I can think of was Reagan. Interestingly, hos secret was the creation of a highly organized shadow party that took over the Reps That goal may not be feasible for Obama. OTOH, there is the example of Humphrey. He SHOULD have won but lost because he alienated the peace movement

Fox News Sunday Host Calls Out Obama, Edwards For Not Appearing - Politics on The Huffington Post: "This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace called out presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards for not appearing on his show. Sen. Hillary Clinton appeared on Fox News Sunday in September. HuffPost readers: Do you think Obama and Edwards should appear on Fox?"