In the battleground states, Barack Obama has an undeniable logistical advantage.

In the fight for the Upper Midwest, for instance, Obama has 104 field offices in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota compared to 31 for John McCain, according to tallies by the campaigns and by Democracy in Action. In Minnesota alone, Obama has 31 field offices to McCain’s 15.

In Mankato, the score is Obama 1, McCain 0.

Willa Dailey, though, has no plans for retreat or surrender.

“I like to think what we’re doing around here is a little more fiscally responsible,” said Dailey, the volunteer leader of the Republican office in Mankato Place. “... I really believe there are more cost-effective ways to get the word out.”

When it comes to payroll in the local GOP office, the cost is easy to calculate. The entire operation is staffed by volunteers, other than the occasional visit by the McCain staffer based in Rochester and the advice that comes from the McCain headquarters in St. Paul.

Compact, sparsely equipped and open only periodically, the office works on behalf of McCain and Republican candidates in Senate and U.S. House races. But Dailey and her volunteers plan to win Blue Earth County for McCain and other Republicans on Nov. 4.

“Elections are won with boots on the ground,” Dailey said. “You simply need volunteers who are willing.”

Plan reliant on volunteers

Ben Golnik, the McCain campaign’s “north mountain regional manager,” likes what he’s got in Blue Earth County. He specifically mentions Dailey and state Rep. Tony Cornish of Vernon Center, who’s also leading the local McCain effort.

“Ultimately, what we’ve found the most successful is having Minnesotans talking to other Minnesotans who are their friends, their neighbors, their social circle,” Golnik said.

It’s not that he doesn’t like having forward operating bases in competitive states, places where paid staffers coordinate the work of legions of volunteers. That’s why the number of McCain field offices in Minnesota has risen from nine to 13 to 15. But Obama’s record-breaking fundraising has left the McCain campaign making do with less.

“We knew we were going to be outspent in this race,” he said.

Golnik understands being stretched a bit thin, directing the campaign’s operations in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Still, he spoke confidently of the field plan the campaign has been developing for months, a plan that focuses on local volunteers and their opinions of what’s most important to undecided voters in their home communities.

“We’re relying on the sage advice and counsel of local folks,” Golnik said.