I'm glad somebody is analyzing MoveOn's 2004 gotv effort, because it was a waste of money that should not be repeated and shouldn't be supported. I wouldn't donate to MoveOn while it works with GCI on the same flawed model.

The least interesting part is how GCI is a cynical, incompetent operation. Canvassers spent 5+ hours a day constantly calling, but no good calling system was in place. Not only didn't GCI think to use rudimentary dialing software, they also didn't buy long distance service, meaning that the many canvassers dialing long distance used 7-digit 1010 prefixes and spent twice as long dialing as they should have. Thousands of calls didn't happen because of this penny-wise mentality.

Okay, one more example of incompetence. GCI had an overbearing obsession with crude statistics. We were constantly pressed to meet an arbitrary quota of recruits that bore no relation to the demographics of our districts. In my office a canvasser calling into urban Milwaukee was held to the same standard as one calling rural Wisconsin.

More damning however than the amateur nature of GCI's operation, is  (as of 2004) its "quick buck" mentality. Too little time was spent training and nurturing volunteers, too much was spent haranguing  them to make their quotas. GCI's lineage is street hustling for good causes-- getting people to donate to the DNC or Greenpeace. The strategies for the latter just don't work for the former. I like MoveOn, I hope they can backtrack from this dependence on a failing organization.