The Community Organizing Renaissance

This is such a satisfying time.  With fingers crossed, I'm just reveling in these final weeks.

I have some developing thoughts about where I want to put my energy after the election that I'll work on, but I still have this question:  What happens to MyBO after the election?  Will it morph into a post-election tool?  Or will that function need to be taken over by another?

I have thought, since the convention, that Barney Smith, with his line of "Barney Smith, not Smith Barney", would make an great ad. I am glad to see if finally come out!

And notice how Josephine *winks* at the end of her ad!

Can anyone else see the sign in the window that says "Democrat/McCain?" Is that for real!?! I tracked it back to brettmarty.com (the 538 photographer's site), blew it up, and it sure looks like a sign intended to convince people that McCain is a Democrat. Can that be real?

That sign in the window says Democrat For McCain, not Democrat McCain. I've seen those signs at his rallies several times.

No relevance to your story whatsoever.  This is just to point out how colossally inept McCain's campaign is.

McCain's model workaday lunch-pail-totin' quarter-mil-a-year plumber friend, Joe Wurzelbacher is, according to conservative blogger Martin Eisenstadt (http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-r...) related to Robert Wurzelbacher, son-in-law of Charles Keating.

I know.  I don't even know if they really are related, but so what if it's true?

I just wonder if McCain realized that the man he was about to make the emotional linchpin of his final chance of becoming president is a five-second Google search from being connected to the greatest embarrassment of his political career?

The McCain camp seems superstitiously averse to vetting people.  If it were the Obama campaign, they would probably have done a genome map of the guy.

 

Check this out if you haven't already.  Here's an excerpt:

 

As I'm sure you know, most of the time you go canvassing for a political campaign, you'll go into a field office, lounge around for a while waiting for them to get ready for you and prepare all of your packets and lists, and then go out without all that much information about the neighborhood you're supposed to be canvassing.  "Here's your list, here's your script, here's your lit, now go ahead."

That's not the Obama way. We weren't actually staged from the field office:  We were actually assigned to head over to a house of a volunteer that was serving as a staging area for one particular neighborhood.  There was one paid staffer who was living at that house, and half the ground floor was dedicated to the Obama campaign organization. Let me bring in at this point a quote from the Exley article:

Ryan, for example, has six teams covering a wide swath of rural and exurban Southwest Ohio. He said, "It's great—it's like having six offices around town."

He elaborated: "So many people lose elections because of the places you can't get to. This program allows Glenna's team, with just two or three weeks of VAN training to know how to cut turf, to know how to pull lists and put canvass packets together. So all that type of work that eats up so much time for organizers can be handled at the local level—at her place.

The Obama campaign has many more field organizers and campaign personnel on the ground as it is, but these "staging areas" aren't counted in the total number of offices, even though they're effectively functioning as such and handling dozens of volunteers per day.  When we arrived at this staging area, we were given specific information about all the local races, but also about the particular demographics and structure of the neighborhood--all of which proved useful when talking to the actual voters.  We were immediately given our canvassing packets, which were small enough that they could actually be finished in a reasonable amount of time--which, we were told, was important because it was crucial to get a completed packet for data entry purposes so they could know if it was worth sending more people back out for another canvass of uncontacted voters later on.

But what this neighborhood-by-neighborhood strategy also allows is for the campaign to be more nimble and flexible.  When runneraaa and I got back from our first canvass, we didn't just drop off our packets and walk out the door.  We were asked by the paid staffer, "how did it go and what did you learn?"  The neighborhood leader was able to take the time to debrief each canvass team, which is something that couldn't possibly happen at a centralized field office.

In my personal debrief, I mentioned that there was an Obama supporter in my canvass who had not yet registered and still needed to do so.  I had told her that she could only register in person at that point, but that I didn't have the location for it and that I would have the campaign give her a call.  I reported that situation to the neighborhood leader and gave him the information.  Now, what would normally happen in a centralized field office is that that time-essential information would go into some "to be contacted" black hole, rather than actually being followed up on in a reasonable amount of time.

Not so in this organization.  The team leader got all the information and called the voter immediately to give her all the instructions she needed for registering.

And what is happening here is that the neighborhood organizing and local data entry is making the canvass packets more and more effective.  Unlike a haphazard central office system where it's impossible to know what data is being entered, when and by whom, resulting in very uneven success for future canvassing, the walk lists were practically perfect. That's what happens when each neighborhood is responsible for itself in a decentralized--but still organized--manner.

On Sunday, our next staging area wasn't in a private residence, but at a local park.  Again, why not use all available spaces, especially on a nice day?  It saves crowding at the local field office, and it's a lot more convenient for the canvassers to have a central location.  The experience was very similar: a personal briefing and debriefing for every canvass team.  But having a staging area on a public park on a weekend had side benefits: additional volunteer recruitment.

There were some young people who were at the park for recreation who were Obama supporters and wanted to see what was going on.  In appreciation of their interest, they were trained in canvassing and given walk packets--an immediate boost to the number of volunteers.

It's very, very rare to bring 42 out-of-state volunteers, get to the place, and have the campaign know exactly what they want each of you to do and give you immediate assignments.  This is the most organized, most efficient campaign I've ever seen.

But on top of that, it shows as well that the coming Obama ground surge cannot be measured in paid staff.  It can't be measured in field offices.  It can't be measured at all. But you will see it on election day, because the opposition doesn't have anything even close to this.

Here in St Petersburg, FL, the only way to get a yard sign is to sign up to volunteer. People come to the campaign office looking for the signs, and as they walk in, they are encouraged to sign in by a greeter usually someone assigned to do data entry right out in front and direct people to where they need to be. As they sign up, the staff person responsible for their area is called over to continue the discussion. It's at this point, now that they've already shook hands with their staff member, or team leader, that they are told that the best way to get a sign is to volunteer, but that if they want, the local Democratic Party office is selling the signs. 

Al, I will pass your message along to the two Obama staff members that I have worked with the most. I feel a little sad - reading this article, I have come to a realization that I failed a Neighborhood Team Leader Test due to my insane work travel schedule this year. Oh well! 

I think it says Democrat for Mccain but the for is very little. Still pathetic though.

What is it exactly about the Obama campaign that motivated so many people who were never involved in the political process before to do all the hard work described above?

Look forward to reading the book Al, should you decide to write it.

Is Obama the Coltrane of Organizers? The details and nuances of how the human effort is fit to place resembles the extended coda solo on "I Want to Talk ABout You". It will either become the model for all future efforts and a matter for study in its own right or we will not see the like of this fellow again.

Gathering the stories is the precondition for the work you will publish. The Cornelius Ryan model from 'The Longest Day' with first person accounts of participants is your model. For really useful method ideas, look up the writings of S.L.A. Marshall, the inventor of operational analysis in ground combat.

Old 'Slam' would show up just after a battle in World War Two, Korea or Vietnam and gather everyone's story. A private could over rule a general in a debriefing if the private was closer to the moment of action. Then, his reports were the basis for small unit tactic improvements that would save lives in ground combat.

I don't have much to report from Massachusetts on ground operations and I'm too immobile and poor to go bother New Hampshire.

But I have spent the past month finding all these grassroots sustainability and alternative energy groups here and I have a feeling some overlap with the Obama force.

I also agree with prior thread posters that Sustainability will be a place for this organizing principle and those who built it. There are lots of badly insulated slum rental dumps in Boston, as you know, blowing carbon into the air.

The oddest correlation is the discovery that urban Boston is almost toxic to grassroots acumen. You may have noticed this when you had your Phoenix gig. Boston has fat lobbyist NGO's run by people with hefty resume's who figure they can influence the eternally crooked legislature. Walk ins are not welcome and regular humans are an underfoot nuisance.

Boston is either 'top down' or a gaggle of list serv groups that talk about important stuff but rarely do anything useful.The grassroots action is all west of Boston, in Worcester or Springfield and so on.

And it is impressive. Getting yound Obama in is only the first step. The work ahead to rectify the sprawl of problems that grew from the Oil Era will be one of our biggest tasks and it will be a grand renovation of a run down sloppy half choked nation.

I also went to Las Vegas this past weekend from CA. Because of a late start, I had to go to the field office (4440 Durango) rather than the Community Park nearby. I was immediately welcomed by everyone, given a thorough course in canvassing, and set out with an experienced Northern CA gentleman to hit the neighborhood together. We rang 77 doorbells and talked to about 20 people. The focus was on early voting. Our packets included literature on the local woman running for Congress as well as 5 other sheets of specific talking points. At the end of the day we tallied up our sheets and someone else did the data entry to update the voter lists.

Same on Sunday with a new partner. We were each given over 60 residences (I was odd, the other guy even) which took us about 4 hours. This neighborhood was desperate - every fourth house was either vacant, for sale or foreclosed. A real eye opener for someone living in LA LA land. Monday the office gave me office chores and phone banking to gather more volunteers. During the day there were about 20 people working the phones and data entry. At 4:30 at least a dozen more people arrived to go out canvassing. I had to leave to get back to LA but all in all a really productive weekend, thanks to the tremendous organization behind the campaign.

The KOS diary linked above mentions Eric Garcetti, the LA Councilman.  He is totally committed to local and sustainable.  Very involved in making Los Angeles a viable place to live by organizing one neighborhood at a time.  I am sure he's someone for Al's book.  http://www.lacity.org/council/cd13/index.htm

Renee

During Dean's bid for the presidency he had a website and active organization that I believe evolved into what is now Democracy for America, managed, in part, by Dean's brother. 

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/about

I am hoping that the community organizing genius of Dean, Obama, and others are already thinking about the future. I am getting really anxious for November 4th to be here so that we can start looking ahead to January and beyond.  These are indeed exciting times.

And Al, what is your dream guitar?

Al, do you think the latest round of Ayers robocalls from GOP/McCain will do much damage--at least to anyone besides the GOP and McCain?

Lisa - Thanks for the DFA reference.  That sounds like a good model, or even the place to move this organization.

I have received two robocalls here in WI. The callback number at the end of the message is read through at auctioneer speed -- and when called provides you with no way to leave a message for the RNC.

Probably par for the course in many states, but I never had this happen when I lived in MN.

I think those "Democrat for McCain" signs in the window are pretty funny -- I'm guessing they're using them for window decoration because they ordered a bunch of them and found they couldn't give them away!

I got activated in 2004 by the Dean campaign and have never stopped. I'm not sure it would have happened if Howard Dean hadn't told us all to go out, get involved in our local party, run for office, and create the change we wanted to see.

In addition to working on the ground, through Firedoglake I got involved in online grassroots issue activism, and then in 2006, I got involved in congressional races across the country through Blue America.

I expect Barack Obama will know to make a similar statement telling all of us that when this race is over, our work has just begun, and I believe even more will answer the call this time.

We're just getting started!

That Google Earth video is great - this is how I knew Obama was going to win VA in the primary - I went to his site the weekend before, and there were so many of those little event icons all over the VA map, and I went to Clinton's site and I think there were 5 or 6 events.  You're absolutely right Al the trad med have no idea at all of the real story behind the Obama campaign, absolutely no idea.  I am absolutely amazed at how the internet has made this campaign possible.  The Republicans are just so behind the ball - I mean just think about how much information came out about Joe the Plumber today - in one day - all I can say is "Thank Google!"

KD

The footage/mash-up I'm hanging to see is election day when all these neighbourhoods come out to vote - together.

(Manly)BondiBeachViews

http://www.reflector.com/news/democrats-dominate-early-voting-187842.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603436_pf.html

Money Quote:

Mr. Obama's temperament is unlike anything we've seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

amk

Hey! There's a ton going on in Massachusetts - look outside Boston! We've got a project that my husband is spearheading with the state-wide student coordinator that you can do from the comfort of your own home or in the Somerville HQ with Pat Johnson. I sent an email out to everyone on the Southern New England Fieldhands group about it. If you're not on the group, I'm happy to write to you about it. Send me an email at jessmeltzer@charter.net.

And okay, we're too strapped for cash to do a lot of things too but phonebanking to NH or other swing states is important and easy enough (you can do it from MyBO if you don't want to bother with your local HQ). We're sending postcards to undecided voters in swing states - again very easy (4x6 cards cost a buck a pack for 100) and if you can't afford the 27 cent stamps other people will buy them and the campaign offices will provide some stamps (and the addresses!). There are visibility events throughout the state where all you have to do is show up. There are tons of carpools and buses heading up to NH (free). And if you don't think NH is important, think again. John McCain has spent a lot of time there over the years and many people think of him as the John McCain they met in 2000 and not the John McCain of 2008. New Hampshire needs our help.

Maybe Boston is top down, though after having met John Barros, the regional field director, several times I've got to tell you neither my husband nor myself have found him at all 'top down' or snooty towards regular volunteers. If the Boston offices don't work for you just get in touch with one of the other offices and see if there's work you can do without having to go on site if transportation is challenging.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to attack you but there is so much going on around here. Boston is one small part of this region. Help is needed. Please don't let your experiences in one field office keep you from helping us work to get Obama/Biden into the White House.

Donna Brazile wrote an excellent piece about the election and addressed the 'Bradley Effect' Here's just a bit and the link is below. It's well worth a read. "But what if the Bradley Effect were mere folklore? What if it proved to be less like the immutable laws of physics and more like an electoral version of the Loch Ness monster or, even more fantastical, Gov. Sarah Palin's foreign policy expertise as a result of her proximity to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's flight path? Lance Tarrance, who was Bradley opponent George Deukmejian's lead pollster in 1982, wrote an article recently stating that the disparity between polling and electoral results in that campaign was as the result of bad polling, not racism. He posits that Bradley was always within the statistical margin of error and that his loss reflected nothing more than the inherent weaknesses of polling data in a close election. Even if there were a Bradley Effect in effect in 1982, there is no evidence that it still exists today. Think of it: The 1980s were a time of recession, high gas prices and questionable fashion sense. Oh wait, perhaps those are bad examples of how much the country has changed in the ensuing quarter-century." http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/brazile.obama/index.html

Pitt County, NC has a population of just under 140,000.  Today, in the first day of early voting, they had 2500 people vote.

1.7% of the county's citizens cast a vote on the first day of early voting.  That's kind of insane when you think of it.

Of the early voters there were:

1570 Democrats

445 Republicans

279 Independents

I really think all of the pollsters are going to be shocked when they see the voter turnout this year.  It's going to exceed any of their models.

Yes.  We.  Can.

 

http://www.reflector.com/news/democrats-dominate-early-voting-187842.htm...

 

 

I just love that a few minutes after I get an email from a friend who lives in Washington, D.C. with the WaPo editorial - I come to The Field and a Field hand in India has already posted it here!  What a great, great community.  AMK - we've got the globe covered!  Expect that's a chapter in Al's book too.

 

 We got to the San Diego County elections dept around 3:30pm, they close at 5pm. The place was packed. A long line to register and also long line to vote. The sign on the door warned of no electioneering within 100 feet, so we took off our Obama buttons, walked in, waited in line, and voted. It feels really good to have cast my ballot for Barack & Joe.  Now we can spend 11/4 GOTV-ing in our area for Barack, and Nick Liebham, who is running against the Rethuglican Brian Bilbray. Yay go democrats!

Except that I love this blog. And I've a little too much wine.

 Y'all see this. Barack at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner tonight held at the NYC Waldorf Astoria. Great comedy writing.

Definitely worth a watch. Letterman's skepticism of McCain's selection of Palin, raising of Ayers, etc is unrelenting.  McCain is holding up alright so far, but Letterman is pressing him to come clean that Palin isn't qualified and Ayers ain't worth a damn.

I felt so calm as I bubbled in the little circle next to Obama and Biden's names. I sealed it in the envelope and I knew that the world had just changed forever. Silently. Privately. Perfectly.

The latest media company to exercise its two-year (!) notice of termination to the AP is the Tribune Co., publisher of the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune, owned by the particularly malificent Sam Zell (Puppies, then Iraq!), himself an AP board member.

This is just such terrible news.  I hope that the AP doesn't find it necessary to lay off any personnel like that nice Ron Fournier.

Let's relive a golden oldie from Sam Zell, shall we?

 

I caught the WaPo endorsement early 'cos right now I am in M'sia on bidness and I am ahead of ET by exactly 12 hours. I am sure pretty sure the post-election scenario & discussions @ The Field will be terrific.

amk

amk

Voted early in Ohio on Tuesday October 7th.

KD

Did he say what I think he said at the very end of the video while people were clapping??? F.U? Pathetic.

and to the readers of the Tribune Company "products."

Of course, in his defense, he appears to be drunk.

@amk, but definitely one of the most fired up.