"Field organizing" is the new buzz word in this year's presidential campaigns. Pundits and campaign analysts who are used to talking about which candidates are raising the most money, securing the most endorsements, getting the highest poll numbers, and airing the cleverest TV ads, are suddenly talking about who has the best field operation. They're talking about what's at the heart of what we teach at Wellstone Action: Reaching people where they live, engaging them in direct conversations about the election, and getting them to the polls on Election Day. Field operations have always been central to winning elections, but somehow the media rarely paid attention.
2008 has been called "The Year of the Organizer" by American Prospect magazine, arguing that community organizing has proved decisive in Barack Obama's presidential primary victories so far. They report that back when Obama was a political organizer he asked a local newspaper, "What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer, as part teacher and part advocate, one who does not sell voters short but who educates them about the real choices before them?" They go on to point out that, "since embarking on a political career, Obama hasn't forgotten the philosophical and practical lessons that he learned on the streets of Chicago and that are now central to his campaign for the White House."
Reading that quote of Obama's, it makes me think about what we teach candidates at Camp Wellstone - that good progressives can win and improve our democracy by building a strong base of support, bringing new people into the process, and inspiring and empowering people to work for change.
Wellstone Action has now trained 17,500 people to run for office, manage campaigns, and advocate for a broad range of progressive issues. There will be twice that many by the next presidential election in 2012. There are now 4 Wellstone Action graduates in the U.S. House of Representatives and over 200 in city, county and state government. All of them knew the importance of the "field" and won elections with shoeleather, strategic contact with voters, and mobilizing supporters. This new wave of trained candidates and organizers will one day reach a tipping point, and a Wellstone Action graduate will mount a viable presidential bid. And that person will bring to the campaign all the skills and lessons they learned from Wellstone Action, and put to good use in earlier campaigns. They will have built a strong and active base of grassroots political and financial support. And they will be able to train and set loose talented, experienced organizers to reach enormous numbers of voters.
Ok, so maybe the thought of a Wellstone Action graduate in the White House sounds far-fetched. But the Obama campaign is one high-profile example that the winning brand of politics that Paul and Sheila Wellstone practiced is back in vogue, and at the highest levels. This thing called field organizing is changing the definition of a winning politics, and it may actually help win the presidency of the United States this year. If people-based, field-oriented, grassroots campaigns can dominate and win at the national level, then it follows that one of our own graduates can do the same. Your commitment to developing new leaders has a direct impact on making that happen.
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