Chances are if you donated money, volunteered, or even signed up on the Obama website you got the "Where we go from here" email from David Plouffe Tuesday with a link to a survey about your volunteer experience and whether you would be willing to continue to "volunteer in your community as part of an Obama organization."
The survey listed 4 possible goals for the volunteer organization (passing legislation, elections, training community organizers, and working local issues) and asked you to rank them by importance. It provided a long list of possible issues that such an organization might focus on and asked you to check those you cared about.
Just to start off the discussion: My ideal Obama organization would be a semi-independent grassroots organization that identified and organized around local community issues. For example, the group could work together to give the local soup kitchen a new paint job, but could also lobby and sue to shut down a local polluter. Obama could build on his database of volunteers to match skills (attorneys, businesspeople, doctors, bilingual, whatever) and interests (homelessness, environment, etc) with urgent local needs, and the organization would have a way to report back to the administration what THEY saw as the pressing needs of the nation.
I agree with all that, but I think the single most important function of Obama's network is identifying and cultivating future political leaders.
Obama's clearly thinking about this because there was a another question in the survey about interest in running for public office.
If Obama's network can significantly expand the talent pool for public officials and make it easier for those interested to take the next steps toward political involvement, I believe that would that would have a lasting and positive impact on this country.
Barack Obama has cleared the path, others just need to follow him.
You have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
The overriding theme of the campaign was to change America. If that means joining together to do actual things that provide actual benefits for actual people who need things like medical care, nutrition, clothing, so be it! Networking those willing to help with those needing help is a rare and wonderful opportunity.And, of course, offering care and respect to those in need is a way of opening - and winning - hearts and minds.
There's a lot of folks, for example, from Pennsyltucky to the Ozarks who don't like Obama and fear him and his movement. But many of them will travel hundreds of miles and wait for hours and hours for a volunteer dentist to pull their badly diseased teeth. Treating these folks with kindess, respect, and friendship will wash away much of their suspicion.
And those among us with the leadership and organizational talents to succeed in such programs are often potential leaders. You do good by doing good. And those who are best at it are your next generation of leaders.
Thanks for starting the discussion here. There is an interesting and effective model for some of this work in the Wellstone Action organization -- http://www.wellstone.org/
They do very good work -- both enabled and constrained by funding through a non-profit fund -- particularly in the areas of training community organizers and potential candidates and campaigners.
The challenges are in organizing Obama volunteers around direct advocacy and activist roles in community issues. I think certainly that the network built by the campaign can provide connections and resources to existing community organizations and perhaps help people to form new ones but probably can't take on a directing role in those local issues or volunteer services.
The open question for me is how we maintain organization and momentum around advocacy on national issues. That will certainly be necessary as we fight for healthcare reform, tax reform, and ending wars -- where there are definitely organized opponents. I'm not sure what that form of organization looks like, but I think it is definitely different from the Democratic Party. One thought is to begin with an educational focus: study groups, book clubs and then organizing community forums; avoiding wonky policy issues and tactical concerns but engaging people with core progressive ideas for change.
Thanks for the link. That organization was founded after Wellstone's death, correct?
The big challenge/question I see looming over the Obama Organization is determining what its relationship will be (financial, legal, etc) with the Obama Administration. I imagine there are some real legal hurdles there, but I don't know what those are. Are there any models for that?
I suppose Obama could, in theory, sever all ties between Obama-the-administration and his organization and just hand the network over to David Plouffe (or someone like that) to make of it what he will, and just have a new independent activist group, but I don't know if they could still capitalize on the enthusiasm in that case.
I wish I could have listened in on those field organizer conference calls. Anyone have any inside scoop?
Yes, the current Wellstone Action organization was founded by former senate and campaign staff members after Paul's death.
Paul, and many of the same organizers, started an organization after his first election called the Wellstone Alliance that had similar aspirations to the current Obama campaign discussion. The history here is worth studying -- from my perspective at any rate, the Wellstone Alliance didn't sustain a mass independent movement and mostly merged into the state Democratic Farmer-Labor party. As a senator and as part of the DFL, Paul was able to build some stong alliances with groups that most would see as unlikely in a progressive movement, including very strong support from veterans' organizations for example.
Jeff Blodgett was the campaign manager for all of Wellstone's campaigns and currently heads Wellstone Action; he took a leave to manage the Obama campaign in Minnesota -- and I'd bet he was on those community organizer calls.
I answered those questions and sent back my e-mail- a couple of them actually and I sent a letter via change.gov. I'm hoping that Obama uses us to push his agenda by supporting or pushing our local representatives, congressman, etc. to work with Obama not against. It may sound naive, but Americans need to be reminded that these guys on the Hill work for us. People like Mitch McConnell and Michelle Bachmann should wake up everyday in a cold sweat because they fear the backlash of their constituents. They need some fire-breathing Liberals in their faces. I also requested that Obama make a serious effort to reach out to America's youth. I'm talking high school kids through college. The policies he sets now will affect them and they should be involved. Involved in local government, involved in their communities and engaged about what goes on in the world.
Great post and replies. I read TPM daily and this is one of the most positive and encouraging posts I've ever run into.
I've had great experience with a group called the Appalachian Service Project --ASP. ASP organizes volunteers through church groups and sees itself as a Christian organization. However, there is no proselytizing to the volunteers nor to the clients. The idea is that the service speaks for itself. A similar dynamic could be established among a civic action/service group. There is no need to label the "Obama" activists as "Obama" nor would there be a need to limit the group to Democrats. Progressive values will become established at the grass roots without a word about economic policy or diversity. The society we are working for is formed by the work and becomes a reality.
The votes will follow
PS - the ASP volunteers are all high school students, mostly form affluent suburban families. Many get on board to establish a good "service" line on their college apps. 9 out of 10 are authentically transformed by working in service.
Most of the projects occur in the poor counties around the Cumberland Gap in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The SF Mybo group has already spawned two for the new admin - CAN and another CHANGE at Facebook...haven't checked em out yet
I think this situation needs some guidance from on high sooner rather than later...good that things percolate up but at some point it has to get organized
Happy then that O didn't close the WH Political Office
Just to start off the discussion: My ideal Obama organization would be a semi-independent grassroots organization that identified and organized around local community issues. For example, the group could work together to give the local soup kitchen a new paint job, but could also lobby and sue to shut down a local polluter. Obama could build on his database of volunteers to match skills (attorneys, businesspeople, doctors, bilingual, whatever) and interests (homelessness, environment, etc) with urgent local needs, and the organization would have a way to report back to the administration what THEY saw as the pressing needs of the nation.
November 21, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with all that, but I think the single most important function of Obama's network is identifying and cultivating future political leaders.
Obama's clearly thinking about this because there was a another question in the survey about interest in running for public office.
If Obama's network can significantly expand the talent pool for public officials and make it easier for those interested to take the next steps toward political involvement, I believe that would that would have a lasting and positive impact on this country.
Barack Obama has cleared the path, others just need to follow him.
November 21, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
The overriding theme of the campaign was to change America. If that means joining together to do actual things that provide actual benefits for actual people who need things like medical care, nutrition, clothing, so be it! Networking those willing to help with those needing help is a rare and wonderful opportunity.And, of course, offering care and respect to those in need is a way of opening - and winning - hearts and minds.
There's a lot of folks, for example, from Pennsyltucky to the Ozarks who don't like Obama and fear him and his movement. But many of them will travel hundreds of miles and wait for hours and hours for a volunteer dentist to pull their badly diseased teeth. Treating these folks with kindess, respect, and friendship will wash away much of their suspicion.
And those among us with the leadership and organizational talents to succeed in such programs are often potential leaders. You do good by doing good. And those who are best at it are your next generation of leaders.
November 22, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for starting the discussion here. There is an interesting and effective model for some of this work in the Wellstone Action organization -- http://www.wellstone.org/
They do very good work -- both enabled and constrained by funding through a non-profit fund -- particularly in the areas of training community organizers and potential candidates and campaigners.
The challenges are in organizing Obama volunteers around direct advocacy and activist roles in community issues. I think certainly that the network built by the campaign can provide connections and resources to existing community organizations and perhaps help people to form new ones but probably can't take on a directing role in those local issues or volunteer services.
The open question for me is how we maintain organization and momentum around advocacy on national issues. That will certainly be necessary as we fight for healthcare reform, tax reform, and ending wars -- where there are definitely organized opponents. I'm not sure what that form of organization looks like, but I think it is definitely different from the Democratic Party. One thought is to begin with an educational focus: study groups, book clubs and then organizing community forums; avoiding wonky policy issues and tactical concerns but engaging people with core progressive ideas for change.
November 21, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link. That organization was founded after Wellstone's death, correct?
The big challenge/question I see looming over the Obama Organization is determining what its relationship will be (financial, legal, etc) with the Obama Administration. I imagine there are some real legal hurdles there, but I don't know what those are. Are there any models for that?
I suppose Obama could, in theory, sever all ties between Obama-the-administration and his organization and just hand the network over to David Plouffe (or someone like that) to make of it what he will, and just have a new independent activist group, but I don't know if they could still capitalize on the enthusiasm in that case.
I wish I could have listened in on those field organizer conference calls. Anyone have any inside scoop?
November 21, 2008 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, the current Wellstone Action organization was founded by former senate and campaign staff members after Paul's death.
Paul, and many of the same organizers, started an organization after his first election called the Wellstone Alliance that had similar aspirations to the current Obama campaign discussion. The history here is worth studying -- from my perspective at any rate, the Wellstone Alliance didn't sustain a mass independent movement and mostly merged into the state Democratic Farmer-Labor party. As a senator and as part of the DFL, Paul was able to build some stong alliances with groups that most would see as unlikely in a progressive movement, including very strong support from veterans' organizations for example.
Jeff Blodgett was the campaign manager for all of Wellstone's campaigns and currently heads Wellstone Action; he took a leave to manage the Obama campaign in Minnesota -- and I'd bet he was on those community organizer calls.
November 22, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I answered those questions and sent back my e-mail- a couple of them actually and I sent a letter via change.gov. I'm hoping that Obama uses us to push his agenda by supporting or pushing our local representatives, congressman, etc. to work with Obama not against. It may sound naive, but Americans need to be reminded that these guys on the Hill work for us. People like Mitch McConnell and Michelle Bachmann should wake up everyday in a cold sweat because they fear the backlash of their constituents. They need some fire-breathing Liberals in their faces. I also requested that Obama make a serious effort to reach out to America's youth. I'm talking high school kids through college. The policies he sets now will affect them and they should be involved. Involved in local government, involved in their communities and engaged about what goes on in the world.
November 21, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post and replies. I read TPM daily and this is one of the most positive and encouraging posts I've ever run into.
I've had great experience with a group called the Appalachian Service Project --ASP. ASP organizes volunteers through church groups and sees itself as a Christian organization. However, there is no proselytizing to the volunteers nor to the clients. The idea is that the service speaks for itself. A similar dynamic could be established among a civic action/service group. There is no need to label the "Obama" activists as "Obama" nor would there be a need to limit the group to Democrats. Progressive values will become established at the grass roots without a word about economic policy or diversity. The society we are working for is formed by the work and becomes a reality.
The votes will follow
November 22, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
PS - the ASP volunteers are all high school students, mostly form affluent suburban families. Many get on board to establish a good "service" line on their college apps. 9 out of 10 are authentically transformed by working in service.
Most of the projects occur in the poor counties around the Cumberland Gap in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
November 22, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The SF Mybo group has already spawned two for the new admin - CAN and another CHANGE at Facebook...haven't checked em out yet
I think this situation needs some guidance from on high sooner rather than later...good that things percolate up but at some point it has to get organized
Happy then that O didn't close the WH Political Office
November 22, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink