Foley actually did quite a bit of door-to-door petitioning. Reports I get say that once he got the 1,000 required signatures his campaign decided to "inflate the numbers" by sending paid people out to shopping centers.

Here in NYC, especially in the more densely populated areas, and Democrats make up the overwhelming majority of voters, we're used to getting large numbers of signatures quickly. Out in the boonies, where the houses are separated by lawns and there are more Republicans than Democrats, it takes a lot more time. As a result, Jimmy Dahroug's 1,400 signatures, while pretty meager by NYC standards, are actually quite good. (BTW, I believe he had even fewer signatures in 2006, though I'm not certain on this point -- I'm checking sources.) Foley's 3,000+ are, of course, substantial by the standards "out there," but not surprising considering the help he's getting from the DSCC.

Finally, Jimmy's petitioners were almost exclusively highly experienced and very well trained, making it more difficult to invalidate the signatures.