Anecdotal Evidence, August 13: The get-out-the-food campaign strategy
In our Anecdotal Evidence column, movers and shakers share personal stories of how intriguing (and often odd) presidential campaigning in their respective swing state can be.
Get out the food or get out the vote?
Marian Krumberger – Chairwoman Brown County Republicans
Marian Krumberger. Photo: Lars Gesing/CU News Corps
“Ann Romney came up here during the last election cycle. It was right after Hurricane Sandy. President Obama had gone out to the affected region. The Romneys’ response was to have food drives all over the country. So we had a food drive and were running a campaign. We had all these canned goods that everybody brought in. There was no room for anybody in the office.
“The campaign center was now the food drive center. What do we do with all that stuff? We filled up a truck, and I think it went to the East Coast. But you know what? I didn’t follow it all that much because we were so busy with the campaign. And of course Mitt Romney wasn’t the only Republican on the ticket.
“It’s not that it wasn’t the right thing to do, I’m so glad we were able to do it. It was the right spirit, but was that the right use of a campaign headquarters at the time? When Ann Romney came in, she was standing behind all the food – which was probably the photo they wanted.
“But then you ask, why didn’t Romney win? Well, we were all piling food into trucks.”
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Turing the tide with Bill Clinton
Mary Ginnebaugh. Photo: Lars Gesing/CU News Corps
Mary Ginnebaugh – Chairwoman Brown County Democrats
“We had Bill Clinton come and speak at the university for Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012. We had to give tickets to people. There was a line out the door, down the street, down another street and into an alley. I never saw so many people in my life. It was raining and they were still standing in line.
“Maybe not all of them were Democrats. But they were all interested in seeing Bill Clinton – and that happened in a place like Green Bay, which is not a Democratic hot spot. It is not Madison or Milwaukee. It was great. We used to be a Democratic stronghold up here. We are not any more. We have tipped. I am trying to bring it back.”
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