Those paying attention closely last Thursday during the final day of the Democratic National Convention likely noticed the two appearances at the Invesco Field podium by the Obama campaign’s Colorado state director, Ray Rivera, an Albuquerque native and field organizing expert.

 

In his first appearance, Rivera, a veteran of New Mexico union organizing efforts and several local political campaigns in recent years, urged the people in the huge crowd to send the campaign a text message identifying their top issue. Repeating the number several times, he explained that each text message would make their city glow brighter on a map of the country that flashed over the stadium’s oversize video screens.

 

In his second appearance at the podium, he announced that over 30,000 people had already complied. As a result, the capture of so many new phone numbers allows the campaign to send out other text messages to would-be supporters like the one it sent about three hours before Obama took the podium himself: “Final night of the conventions tonight — don’t miss Barack’s speech!" the message read. “To get involved locally, REPLY: VOL plus your FIRST NAME and TOWN.”

 

Rivera’s text message message was yet another example that the huge gathering was also a major organizing opportunity for the campaign.

 

Whether or not that effort, combined with others, can prevail over the McCain campaign’s immediate effort to step on any bounce for the Democrats coming out of the convention with a bold running mate pick on Friday morning, remains to be seen.