By Bhagyashree Garekar
US Correspondent
bhagya@sph.com.sg

 

In Washington

I HAD a taste of how up, close and personal this race is.

In my inbox this morning was a letter urging me to take the day off work.

This is how it went:

"Bhagyashree -- 

Ask your Boss. Ask your Professor. Take Election Day off and volunteer to make history...

We have volunteer shifts to fill throughout the day - make calls, knock on doors, and make sure your fellow voters get to the polls.

No previous experience is required. Sign up now to take the day off and make history on November 4th.

Jon Carson, National Field Director, Obama for America."

Another email, two days ago, had this intriguing subject line: "How Bhagyashree can change America".

I was tickled. And I just had to open it, of course.

"Dear Bhagyashree, 

Election Day is just days away, but you still have plenty of opportunities to make a difference for Barack.

Change never comes without a fight - and it won't come at all unless each of us does our part.

Will you browse the list of activities below and see what you can fit into your schedule?"

It was again from the friendly Mr Carson, helpfully listing all the activities in the vicinity where I could make myself useful.

Oh, and I keep hearing from Hillary, as in Clinton, and Bill, as in Clinton again. And Joe, as in Biden, too. Sometimes, Chelsea pipes up.

Sometimes, it is an invite to tea for me and my cellphone (so we can get together and call friends who might like to vote, volunteer, bankroll the campaign. Preferrably, all three). Sometimes it's stuff they feel I just have to know if I am to be a meaningful participant in this election.

I'm not a US citizen, of course. And the emails are just part of the mails sent out by the millions by the Obama camp, and almost always inviting a $5 donation. "Own a piece of this campaign," they say, and the pitch has sold well going by the unprecedented millions raised by Mr Obama. With small donors, tempted by messages such as these, making up the bulk of the donors.

But they do get more personal than emails.  

Twice in the past few weeks I got calls asking me if I had "free weekends" to help out with some turnout efforts. "It's not hard, we can show you how to do it. It's fun, do come."

Not robo calls, mind you, like the ones from the opposite camp.

But from real, live volunteers.

I'd listed my number on Mr Obama's website, in order to be among those who were to know of his choice of running mate through "historic" text messages. Somehow, I never did get that SMS. Clearly, however, my number was lodged somewhere in their database.

And the Obama folks really believe in their database, and the power of the Internet, ever since Howard Dean, the original Internet politician, showed it was possible to win votes and raise cash by reaching out in cyberspace.

An aide at the Democratic Party's Washington DC office said: "We know face-to-face campaigning is the best way. But it's also the most expensive, more expensive to do than TV spots. So we plugged in the Internet."

Here is how it works: the party has access to huge databases bought from all sorts of companies (like credit card companies). The databases are mined for telltale traits that identify possible Democratic voters.

Then the names are posted on a map and there you have it - a ready reckoner for the eager volunteer who needs to know which doors to knock on. Every volunteer who emails the campaign is given the names and addresses of potential voters in their area.

And it doesn't end there, for this the campaign that makes a big fuss over accountability. The party checks on whether the names on the list have indeed been contacted, and hopefully, registered as voters. 

"It's a great way for us to reach underserved areas and communities, like the Asians who have really low registration and turnout rates," said the Democratic Party staffer. "And best of all, we go right over the head of media."

So much for thanking the American newspapers and TV networks, that have been largely pro-Obama.

The McCain camp's outreach efforts seem half-hearted in comparison.

A few months ago, when his campaign was still pitching him as a "leader you can believe in" versus Mr Obama's "change you can believe in"  - there used to be regularly emailed "briefings" from the campaign manager Rick Davis.

In text and video clips, they would explain how the campaign was reaching out, what the big strategy was.

And of course, there was the invitation to contribute funds - until Mr McCain decided to use public funds for his election.

Mr Davis has since fallen silent. 

The McCain emails now ferry TV ads, and Youtube clips the campaign believes the voters must see, the feelgood newspaper clips that praise the candidate or at least criticise Obama. The McCain mails are not as many and not nearly as personal - some would say intrusive - as Mr Obama's. 

But then the McCain's partymen are already well mobilised - take a bow Sarah Palin - and at a rate that beats the Democratic Party's success with its own base by a few percentage points.

But if McCain maintains his reserve, others who speak for the party revel in some of the most biting commentary to be found.

I'm signed on to Human Events, a 60-year-old conservative weekly which of course has an Internet avatar. Several times a day I get bites of wisdom from the conservative talking heads Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan. The subjects-lines are as juicy. 

For instance: "Last chance to "Obama-Proof" your portfolio".

"Did you see Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live?"

"Obama the Slum Lord"

"The REAL skeletons in Obama's Closet" (This turned out to be a book promotion.)

The result: My inbox is forever jammed.

Thankfully, there's just seven more days to go.