Provides an ethnographic portrait of two political campaigns, New Jersey Democrat Linda Stender's and that of Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut, who both ran for Congress in 2008. This title examines how American political operatives use "personalized political communication" to engage with the electorate.

Acknowledgments vii Prologue: Welcome to the Campaigns 1 Chapter 1: Personalized Political Communication in American Campaigns 4 Chapter 2: The Ground War Enters the Twenty-first Century 35 Chapter 3: Contacting Voters at Home 63 Chapter 4: Organizing Campaign Assemblages 95 Chapter 5: Targeting Voters for Personal Contacts 133 Chapter 6: Always Fighting the Same Ground War? 171 Research Appendix 189 Notes 209 References 221 Index 235

"If the medium is the message, Nielsen shows that a key medium in campaigns is person-to-person communication. His sharp analysis and careful ethnographic storytelling reveal both the high level strategic role and the human experience of personalized political communication in contemporary elections."—W. Lance Bennett, University of Washington"Having embedded himself with the grunts in the political trenches of two ordinary congressional elections, Nielsen demonstrates how elections involve the selling of democracy to an often reluctant or uninterested public. Ground Wars is a sterling example of political ethnography."—Herbert J. Gans, former president of the American Sociological Association"Nielsen provides a trenchant and thought-provoking account of what campaigns look like at ground level. His ethnography offers a rare glimpse into what canvassing and phone banking mean to those who try to reach vast numbers of voters in the run-up to Election Day. This book is a welcome companion to more abstract, quantitative studies of campaigns and elections."—Donald P. Green, Columbia University"Nielsen presents a very compelling analysis of an often-neglected aspect of modern electoral campaigns. He challenges the idea that political communication must be tightly controlled and scripted, correctly arguing that personalized, labor-intensive communication prone to individual inflection and enthusiasm represents American democracy in action. Ground Wars is an important and timely book."—Dennis W. Johnson, author of No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants Are Reshaping American Democracy"This is an excellent book that offers unique analysis and insights into an emerging key dimension of electoral campaigning: personalized political communication—that is, communication to voters in person either at the door or on the phone. This book contributes to political science in novel and decisive ways. Ground Wars is a pleasure to read."—Florence Faucher-King, Sciences Po, Paris