MASTER OF THE GAME

IS ED GILLESPIE THE GREATEST POLITICAL STRATEGIST OF ALL TIME?

Of course, he didn't "go it alone"--Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove are part of the team, as well. But major credit for this victory has to go to Ed Gillespie.

Consider: Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, orchestrated the single most well-reviewed Republican convention in recent memory. Even the great Lee Atwater could never claim such fame, as his conventions were marred by party infighting and accusations of being all red meat, and no beef.

The 2004 Republican National Convention brought together a wide variety of Republicans or supporters thereof--from pro-choice stem-cell supporter Arnold Schwarzennegar to pro-life former Kerry pal John McCain. Not only did they "all get along," but they all managed to focus their love and adoration on George W. Bush, each doing his part in preparing the stage for the President's amazing speech, majestically delivered "in the round" to the whole convention. For this alone, he deserves high honors.

Yet Gillespie is also the architect of this election season's superlative "ground game." The Bush campaign developed an astonishing grass-roots and email effort that sent out monthly, weekly, and daily updates on key issues, advance copies of ads, special interest mailings to a variety of types of voters--women, veterans, Hispanics, teachers--all designed to give voters the sense of being an "insider" in an exciting political adventure. They developed an extensive army, with leaders in virtually every precinct in America. They used state political apparatuses to play the game more intelligently this time than last, asking the important questions to find out what the demographics, interests, and environment were on the ground. In the final hours of the campaign, they put one million volunteers on the ground.

The people on Ed's email lists were treated to advance copies of the advertisements about to be run, links to websites that provided important election information, and other resources for political junkies across the nation. This is an important aspect of the campaign, though few have made mention of it. One of the worst aspects of modern politics is that states and voters are treated differently, according to their usefulness to the politician. By using email and focused groups (as opposed to "focus groups"), the campaign is able to devote attention and resources to voters that might otherwise be ignored. Those who lived in battleground states were the targets of campaign ads, but with email and web pages, even the most electorally secure voter had the chance to see the ads he or she might only get if they played to a national audience.

This connection to the base seems to be a hallmark of Gillespie's style. It connects him--and, through him, the party and the president--to the rank-and-file voter. There's something cool about watching a man tear up a Terry McAuliffe or a Susan Estrich on Fox and Friends in the morning, and then getting an email from him that afternoon. It's just, you know, cool.

And so, as we lean back into the comfortable margin of President Bush's victory, let us raise a toast to the man whose media savvy and impish personal charm brought us to this day: To you, Ed Gillispie, Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Kudos.