A profile of Cathy Calfo in the SacBee yields a review of the importance of the grassroots, even in a mega-media market heavy state like California.

During the darkest hours of Phil Angelides’ campaign for governor this spring, when fellow Democrat Steve Westly led by double digits, the airwaves sizzled with negativity and the second-guessers worked overtime, Cathy Calfo kept the plan in focus.

“I hear. People call you. Everybody has an opinion,” Calfo, Angelides’ campaign manager, said last week. “The truth was, we did have a campaign strategy. We knew exactly where we were heading. … We had a good campaign plan.”

In the end, Calfo believes, it was the grass-roots network in that plan — the endorsements, the thousands of contributors and lists of environmental backers — that carried Angelides over the top in the Democratic primary. (SacBee  6/12/06)

I think if you have to point to one reason that Angelides won, it is the grassroots support that Angelides has.  It’s the reason that Angelides dominated the Bay Area.  He had the support of the Clubs, their slate mailers, etc.  In elections where only the faithful turned out, the grassroots makes the difference. 

In retrospect, Westly would have been much better off with a positive campaign.  He needed atypical voters, independents, etc.  In short, he needed to really run that different kind of campaign, that invigorated the electorate.  But South and his crew ended up going the other way.

The race against Arnold will be a totally different race with a totally different dynamic.  The grassroots will be critical to any Angelides victory strategy.