Winning Iowa through the national media without local operations?

[Jacobtm]

Has anyone ever won the Iowa caucuses through getting attention in the national media without actually setting up ground operations?

[Wonkish1]

I think John Kerry didn't have much in the way of ground operations in Iowa when he won in 2004.

I also think "uncommitted" probably had no ground operations for the 1972 and 1976 Democratic primaries. I don't know what do you think?

[Politico]

I think John Kerry didn't have much in the way of ground operations in Iowa when he won in 2004.

True, but Gephardt and Dean pummeled each other Bush/Dukakis-style the last week or so, turning off a lot of voters (benefiting Kerry and Edwards), and Kerry had Ted Kennedy running around for him at the last minute (And one of Kerry's old war buddies from Iowa showed up out of nowhere almost on the eve of the election, giving him a good PR boost while Dean and Gephardt looked like schoolchildren not fit to be commander-in-chief; let's not forget how big of a deal terrorism and war was in January 2004).

[© tweed]

I think John Kerry didn't have much in the way of ground operations in Iowa when he won in 2004.

True

is this actually true?  I'd presume it isn't because Kerry always was at the top of the pack (along with Dean, once Dean emerged) in raising money, but I can't say how effectively this translated into organization.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

This Time Magazine article says...

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[Likely Voter]

Cain is essentially running the kind of campaign Palin would have run.

[© tweed]

This Time Magazine article says...

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yeah, so basically the total opposite of the bs floated above.

[Politico]

Obviously Kerry had ground operations in Iowa, but if I recall it absolutely paled in comparison to what Dean and Gephardt had going for them (I was in NH at the time, so don't trust my recollections). Kerry's ground ops probably did not do as much for Kerry as the aforementioned pummeling Dean/Gephardt underwent, not to mention Ted Kennedy's constant stumping and that old war buddy reappearance at the last-minute which is what sticks out in mind from Iowa 2004. However, the Time Article helps answer the original question at the top of this thread: It appears nobody has ever won Iowa without at least some ground operations. Kerry is probably the best example of somebody who managed to gather together something at the last-minute for victory. "Uncommitted" in the 1970s is something we can kind of ignore, I would think...

[Link]

This Time Magazine article says...

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yeah, so basically the total opposite of the bs floated above.

[Wonkish1]

This Time Magazine article says...

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yeah, so basically the total opposite of the bs floated above.

A) Don't be a d*ck!
B) Notice how I said "I think" at the beginning of my statement.
C) It is understandable how a person could come to the conclusion that Kerry didn't have much campaign operations in the state. According to the quote above Kerry rushed into the Iowa ground game war at the last minute.

[Wonkish1]

This Time Magazine article says...

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yeah, so basically the total opposite of the bs floated above.

[milhouse24]

Maybe you weren't out of the womb in 2004, but its incredibly difficult to win Iowa without a ground game, and often times, the surprising winner is the best organized.  Also, Kerry was a very rich guy, who was sort of a celebrity Senator with his Vietnam era protest antics, but he was more established and esteemed than Dean or Gephart among Democratic leaders, he had a good resume with decades as a Senator, and an Emotional War Hero status by saving his Vietnam buddies life.

Hillary stunk up Iowa, but Obama bused in hundreds of volunteers for GOTV from Chicago and Illinois.