Grassroots vs TV Ads

Apparently in my previous post, through both the comments as well as emails I received, I created a little stir among Republicans who thought I may have been denigrating Dan Bongino's efforts in the US Senate election campaign.  The point I was trying to make is that Rob Sobhani has been blanketing the airwaves and that has gotten a lot of people to ask about his campaign.  Bongino on the other hand is focusing on a more grassroots-oriented campaign.  The Bongino campaign has been all over the state meeting people at all sorts of events, both political and non-political alike. In fact, I just received a flyer in the mail about a fundraiser he will be hosting in Howard County the second week of October, which you can find out about at his website.  I have yet to receive any mail from Sobhani. 

Although I said it poorly, the effectiveness of TV ads vs. grassroots organizing was the intent of my previous post.  At least in this race, the impact of each campaign's strategy can be seen in a poll put out yesterday, showing that Sobhani has hit 21%, nearly equaling Bongino.  The poll is from a polling organization that has been used by both Democratic and Republican campaigns in this state.  The take away from this poll seems to be that the most effective way to convince people who may not be actively seeking information about the campaign to support you is through television ads. Clearly, not every campaign can afford to do blanket TV ads like Sobhani.  Regardless of whether that is fair (that's a separate debate), it is working for Sobhani in the short term in a positive way. 

I will be eagerly awaiting the next poll we get for the US Senate race in Maryland to see if there any confirmation of Gonzales Research's poll.