Phone bank artillery
Maryland Democrats have trained their sights on Pennsylvania as Election Day moves closer to its conclusion.
Leading the charge and thanking the troops was Gov. Martin O’Malley.
O’Malley, just back from a late night in Pennsylvania was on a swing of polling precincts and several Democratic Party headquarters. It’s a statewide tour that he referred to more than once as “Obama-rama.”
Oh yeah, he also found time to vote just before lunch.
The governor visited party elections headquarters in Towson where about 100 people (give or take) were involved in last-minute, get-out-the-vote activities including phone calls to voters in Pennsylvania and Democrats in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District race between Republican Andy Harris and Democrat Frank Kratovil.
The Democratic Party has 20 phone banks in the state, including the one at 40 W. Chesapeake.
“We’ve made more calls out of Maryland than any other state in the country except California,” O’Malley said. “We’re the phone bank artillery.”
So does that make O’Malley the Gen. George Patton of phone banks?
“I am the Patton of phone banks,” O’Malley responded.
O’Malley said he believes Republican John McCain will need to take Pennsylvania in order to defeat Democrat Barack Obama. The phone calls are an effort to prevent any possibility of that happening.Closer to home, it’s hoped a high turnout for Obama in the 1st Congressional District can help Kratovil over the hump in a district that leans Republican.
So, what are Democrats saying it’s going to take for a Kratovil win tonight?
“About 52 percent,” Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for O’Malley, said with a grin.