I Wonder What It's Like to Win?

There is quite a contrast between the miserable picture of the Kerry campaign painted by It's the Incompetence, Stupid and the well-oiled machine portrayed in The Multilevel Marketing of the President. Clearly, the Dems need to learn how to use a volunteer.

The Bush team was able to create a social network around their campaign and rewarded people with symbols of belonging - hats, mugs, letters from the president. By using the pyramid, they made sure that everyone knew others in the campaign organization and would be motivated by something more than love of the president. And no, not hating gays either. They were motivated by peer pressure and if it can make kids take drugs it can elect a president - no problem.

They also had clear expectations and gave clear instructions - including training. The Kerry campaign, on the otherhand, stated it did not have time for training volunteers. Since the Bush campaign invested more in their volunteers, they could get more out of them.

If 2004 taught us anything it should be not to underestimate the importance of volunteers to a campaign.