Money or People?

From the Boston Globe:

Patrick has held the lead in most public polls since winning the Democratic Convention endorsement in early June. His two primary election opponents -- Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and Christopher Gabrieli, a wealthy businessman -- have spent almost $4 million over the past four weeks in hope of improving their standings. Strategists familiar with polls in all the campaigns say the inroads by Reilly and Gabrieli have been slight.

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The Democratic campaigns have not aired negative ads , though there are signs the campaign could get nasty. Over the weekend, the Globe published an internal Reilly campaign e-mail exchange that outlined how the attorney general's political aides were planning to promote the effort by a New York-based labor organizer, Ray Rogers, to discredit Patrick for his role as Coca-Cola's general counsel.
Patrick faces a tough battle to compete with Reilly and Gabrieli. Reilly, having spent close to $2 million since late July, has about $3 million left in his advertising budget, aides say. Gabrieli, a multimillionaire who has already used $5.4 million of his own money over the last four months to promote his candidacy, is spending close to $600,000 a week.

At this point, Gabrieli's ability to tap his personal fortune to pay for his campaign is considered the most important variable in the Democratic race, strategists said privately.
The Patrick campaign's antidote to the financial gap lies with its grass-roots effort. Taking a page from Howard Dean, Patrick spent money on a grass-roots organization, using the internet to link up supporters. The campaign says it has raised $1 million online since last fall, a quarter of its total fund-raising. It has just hired 12 new field coordinators for the last five weeks of the campaign.