St. Cloud, Minn. — A wintry edge was in the air as five teams of unlikely looking political organizers, many of them from out of town, left the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce office on a wind-swept downtown street last week and fanned out to visit more than 200 businesses, proselytizing bank tellers, restaurant managers and factory owners alike.
It was just one example of the business establishment rolling out its version of the "ground game" that has contributed to many Republican victories in recent years, a meticulously targeted grass-roots operation that teams up volunteers with seasoned political operatives who parachute in for last-minute persuasion and get-out-the-vote drives.
But there's something unexpected about the effort being orchestrated this year by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups. Instead of giving top priority to "pro-business" candidates for president, Congress and local offices, the emphasis is on a handful of U.S. Senate races.
Though officially nonpartisan, the chamber and other business organizations have provided valuable support to Republicans in recent elections, starting with the GOP's presidential standard-bearer and going down the ticket.
This year, however, the chamber and its allies have narrowed their priorities: They are going all-out for a handful of GOP Senate candidates in an attempt to prevent the expected Democratic tide from producing such a lopsided majority that Republican filibusters and other parliamentary maneuvers could not hold it back.
In particular, business lobbyists fear that a Democratic supermajority could push through the Employee Free Choice Act proposal, or EFCA, which would make it easier for unions to organize workers.
The chamber and allied groups are flooding the airwaves and streets in Minnesota and four other states with money and ground troops.
The chamber, which spends more on election activities than any other business group, will dole out $35 million to influence federal races this year, dumping a third of that into just five Senate races. Allied business-backed coalitions report spending an additional $30 million to $50 million in key states for advertising against EFCA.
Ground zero in this rear-guard action is Minnesota, where first-term Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is fighting for survival in one of the most expensive Senate campaigns in the country. His opponent, comedian Al Franken, has raised a huge war chest and receives grass-roots help from organized labor, which also views this race -- and EFCA -- as a top priority.
The chamber-backed ground game is also focusing on Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is in a tight race; North Carolina, where Sen. Elizabeth Dole is trailing; Mississippi, where Sen. Roger Wicker is polling slightly ahead; and New Hampshire, where Sen. John E. Sununu has fallen behind former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.
Earlier in the campaign, Minnesota was considered a prime target by ambitious Republicans who deliberately set their national convention here in hopes of pulling this state from reliably blue to red in the presidential election. For months, John McCain's campaign outspent Barack Obama's in advertising here. And there was a time -- in the heady days after the GOP convention in September -- when McCain led the Illinois Democrat in local polls.
The presidential race is no longer considered a real contest. McCain's campaign has pulled its advertising in the state. Even once secure Republican House incumbents, including conservative firebrand Michele Bachmann, are endangered.
St. Cloud is the biggest city in Bachmann's district, but the local chamber affiliate has taken no position in her race. It endorsed only Coleman, pointing to his long pro-business record and the importance of focusing on the Senate.
"Our team hit almost every downtown business -- including the thrift store and the barber shops," said Teresa Bohnen, president of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce, which has never before been active in a federal election. "We had a terrific reaction."
In the previous decade, business organizations fought political battles mainly by writing checks, sometimes to make contributions to parties and candidates and sometimes to purchase independent mass media advertising. That is still happening in Minnesota and other states.
But in the last few election cycles, the U.S. Chamber and other groups, including the Business Industry Political Action Committee, have started reaching out to business owners and their employees, borrowing a strategy developed by organized labor that builds electoral strength through person-to-person communications.
The chamber's political director, Bill Miller, notes that the group has endorsed Democratic Senate candidates this year and in the past. But in crucial, tight races, the chamber is helping Republicans, and the investment this year has drawn the ire of leading Senate Democrats.
