John and Seth look at the Trump and Harris campaigns’ ground games — their efforts to go door-to-door to turn out supportive voters in swing states. They discuss the existing research on just how much ground games matter, and then dig into Harris’ efforts to build on existing Democratic infrastructure, and Trump’s efforts to create something on the fly with millions in Musk Money. John and Seth also discuss their favorite Halloween candies and get into the difficult subject of candy corn.
Links:
Seth Masket’s article “Did Obama’s Ground Game Matter?” from Public Opinion Quarterly
Masket/Sides/Vavreck, “The Ground Game in the 2012 Presidential Election” from Political Communication
Joshua Darr’s “The Incredible Shrinking Democratic Ground Game” at Mischiefs of Faction / Vox
Sasha Issenberg’s book The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns
Episode 14: The Ground Game