| Building The Washington Grassroots Organization |
On Friday June 13, Obama Grassroots Coordinators from throughout Washington State met at the Washington State Democrat’s Convention in Spokane. The meeting was attended by 56 people representing counties and legislative districts in every corner of the state.
The meeting was short — lasting only one hour. During the course of that one–hour meeting, there was a fairly clear consensus that people wanted to continue developing our grassroots organization. Many great strategic and tactical ideas were also presented.
One of the greatest parts of the meeting was that Obama Grassroots Coordinators from all over the state were able to come together for the first time. Though many of us have been working together for well over a year via telephone and email, this is the first time many of us were able to meet face–to–face.
There was also the wonderful surprise that participants from counties where we have yet to establish strong networking ties were also on hand. We’ll greatly look forward to working with these folks as we continue working towards Senator Obama’s General Election Victory and beyond.
Some of what the Statewide Grassroots Coordinators have been discussing over the past 16–months can be found on our Building The Washington Grassroots Organization pages.
It is fully intended to develop a greater communications networks to better facilitate the sharing of materials and ideas. This will allow us better to coordinate our efforts in areas that have been previously discussed, as well as in developing some of the great ideas that came out of the meeting.
Also present at the meeting was Chelsea Waliser, of the Washington State Democrats Coordinated Campaign. She announced that the Coordinated Campaign will be operating the Official Obama Campaign in Washington State under agreements with Obama For America (OFA). Chelsea is the Field Director for the Coordinated Campaign, and was previously employed by OFA. She brings a considerable depth of experience to her present position.
While it’s true that some of the meeting’s participants were skeptical of working with the Coordinated Campaign (based upon previous experience), there were others who felt that there are many areas where the Grassroots Organization and the Coordinated Campaign could work together cooperatively.
The details of how a cooperative effort between the Grassroots and Coordinated will actually look still has to be worked out. We’re sure that many of the Grassroots Coordinators from around the state will have something to add to that discussion.
Based upon our hard work over the past 16–months, the Washington State Grassroots Campaign is poised and ready to ensure that Senator Obama receives a mandate to govern from Washington State.
Please contact your local team leaders, or Contact Us directly to become a part of the continued development of the Movement for Change in Washington State.