Iowa

Using up some nervous energy while waiting to go work at the polls (I've gotten wimpier in my old age and don't work the whole 15-hour shift any more), I got thinking, for some unknown reason, about the people with Wisconsin connections working for Barack Obama's campaign.

Herewith, a quick rundown:

Let's start with Chuck Pruitt of AB Data, who's quietly headed Obama's direct mail fundaising effort. We've all read about the huge amounts of money Obama's raised, especially on the Internet.

But it's gone almost without mention that the direct mail campaign has raised something in the neighborhood of $100-million. That's unprecedented, and that money comes in very small checks. Pruitt, a longtime Democratic player, is just fine with the lack of attention. In fact, after outing him here I may have to pick up the lunch tab next time.

He's self-effacing and makes it sound like all you need to do to raise money for Obama is send people an envelope, and they put a check inside and send it back. It is not that simple, and the mail campaign, like the Obama campaign overall, has been brilliantly conceived and executed. (Maybe Chuck will buy lunch, after that).