Short of pounding the pavement and kissing babies at Fourth of July parades, Danny Cleary campaigned hard for today.

Last August, the Red Wings’ forward emerged victorious in Operation: Bobblehead – an online voting initiative set-up by the team’s marketing department to determine which six players would have their likeness emblazoned on a 6 ½-inch polyresin figurine this season.

“I think my daughter is pretty happy, and she’s getting to the game early to snag one,” said Cleary, who garnered 90 percent of the vote submitted via DetroitRedWings.com and Facebook.

While it wasn’t as contentious as a Mitt Romney-Newt Gingrich Republican debate, Cleary and teammate Todd Bertuzzi (who won a later vote and will have his own bobblehead night Feb. 23) had a spirited rivalry in the offseason, trading calls and messages as both men tried to leapfrog the other in the Internet polls. Watch Cleary’s campaign vote to the right.

“We had a lot of fun with it, it’s pretty neat,” Cleary said. “I’ve already seen it, so it’s a good keepsake to have.”

Asked if he’s now reached a new standard in celebrity with tonight’s bobblehead debut, Cleary chuckled, and said, “I don’t know, maybe. I think it’s a fun little idea. I think it’s something that we’ll look back on and it will be pretty cool. I think the biggest thing would be for kids, they love that stuff.”

The first 7,500 fans at tonight's Red Wings game will receive the Cleary bobblehead, courtesy of RAM truck.

Follw Bill Roose on Twitter | @RooseBill