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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
In campaign ground game, GOP confident technology will trump Obama's troops
By
Jim Tankersley
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
WOODBRIDGE, Va. --- For most of this decade, even when polls looked gloomy, Republicans entered Election Day with a swagger from their not-so-secret weapon: a voter turnout machine powerful enough to swing close races.
Democrats have matched that confidence this year, thanks to Barack Obama's massively expensive field organization. The Democratic nominee has broken his party's tradition of leaving turnout to labor unions and rolled up statistics Republicans concede they can't match: millions of new voters registered, hundreds of campaign offices in key states, an army of door-knocking volunteers.
Here in battleground Virginia alone, the Obama camp has opened 49 offices and claims to have signed up more than 165,000 new voters. That's more than half President Bush's victory margin here four years ago, when Democrats barely contested the state. "I've never seen an organization like this," said Mitch Stewart, Obama's Virginia director and a veteran of Democratic campaigns.
But if the presidential race comes down to the ground game, GOP leaders are betting their technology will trump Obama's troops.
McCain's 20 Virginia "victory centers" are stocked with voice-over-Internet digital telephones, which volunteers use to survey voters and record detailed information about them in a central computer. It's the latest improvement on a data-driven, surgically targeted turnout operation.
Democrats "have taken a page out of the Bush-Cheney 2004 playbook," said Rich Beeson, the political director for the Republican National Committee, which is partnering with John McCain's campaign on field strategy. "The problem is, we're four years ahead of that."
In a pair of counties both sides call critical to Virginia this year, the differences are plain to see. It's a battle of carpet bombs against smart bombs.
At 7 p.m. on a recent Thursday in Woodbridge, Atoundra Lawson strolled under faint street lamps, a stack of glossy brochures under her arm and a pink Obama hat on her head. She squinted to make out a name and address on a white sheet, spun to find the house, then climbed the porch stairs.
No answer. At the next door, the man she was looking for had long since moved. She finally found a target at House No. 4 - but he told her he supports McCain.
It's a routine challenge for Lawson, a lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mom who volunteers for Obama regularly here amid the starter homes and strip malls of Northern Virginia's fast-growing exurbs. She walks neighborhoods with a list of newly registered voters, Democrats who vote irregularly and anyone the campaign thinks could be open to its message.
Some days she finds Obama backers behind almost every door; others, very few. She loves to share stories with them, about their lives and why they support Obama.
Lawson and her fellow volunteers employed a similarly broad approach to voter registration, which closed in Virginia last week. They blanketed grocery stores, Wal-Marts, gas stations - "anywhere and everywhere," Lawson said - and signed up hundreds of new voters. (The campaign's in-house efforts are separate from those of ACORN, the nation's largest community-organizing group, which incurred allegations of registration irregularities in several states in recent weeks.)
Republicans say their approach is more targeted. The McCain campaign and Republican National Committee have confined their registration efforts in Virginia to events with high concentrations of traditionally Republican voters, including church affairs, gun shows and stock car races.
In a ground-floor office in the dense suburbs of Arlington County, GOP volunteers use their digital phones to pinpoint the most motivated McCain supporters for follow-up in the hours leading into the election. A red McCain messenger bag hangs on the wall, a prize for the volunteer who logs the most calls by month's end.
The data from the calls goes into a growing bank of knowledge about individual voters, which the McCain campaign will use to craft narrowly tailored turnout pitches. In 2004, for example, the GOP tried to get Hispanic women with children in New Mexico to vote by citing the No Child Left Behind law.
"We know who we need to talk to," said Trey Walker, McCain's regional campaign manager for Virginia and several nearby states. "We know how to talk to them, and we know we can do it in a more cost-effective manner on the phone than by deploying teams of college kids out into the suburbs like the Obama campaign."
Democrats say they're hardly low-tech: The centerpiece of the Obama campaign's grass-roots push is a Web site, www.voteforchange.com, which walks visitors through registration, polling place locations and early voting instructions. The information Lawson and others collect door-to-door goes into a targeting database.
Republicans, meanwhile, brag that they've already signed up 10,000 Virginia volunteers. Last week, McCain volunteers talked to 600,000 more voters nationwide than the Bush campaign did for the same week in 2004.
But both operations still face questions. Democrats ask if McCain can turn out enough hard-core supporters to win in a year when polls suggest fewer voters identify with the GOP.
Obama's operation paid dividends in the primary season - particularly in caucus states such as Iowa, where Stewart ran the field campaign - but Republicans ask how many voters who registered at supermarkets and gas pumps will actually go to the polls.
The Obama campaign is betting on a high percentage. Lawson is even more sure. "All of them," she says. "I guarantee you that. I've spoken to these people, heard their stories. Everybody's got one."
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Kara McGuire writes about personal finance for the Star Tribune (Minneapolis). Comment by clicking here.
© 2008, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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