| Building The Washington Grassroots Organization |
Working With The Official Campaigns
Standard electoral campaigns seem to represent the very best of the traditional Democratic Party. There comes a point in history, however, when traditional methods are not always up to the task of turning the page.
Both the Obama For America (OFA) campaign and the State Democrat’s Coordinated Campaign will largely focus on “Get Out The Vote” (GOTV) methods. As we’ve already seen, OFA is coordinating many voter registration efforts around the state. The Coordinated Campaign will do much of the same thing.
Voter Registration is very important, and it shouldn’t be discounted in the least. Making voter registration and other GOTV efforts a primary strategy for winning, however, usually doesn’t consider the importance of “Getting Out The Voice” (GOTV2). GOTV2 activities will build an organization, and voter registration goals will naturally be met as a result of such activities. (“Get Out The Voice” is a term coined by Chad Lupkes, and is a very appropriate description of what we should be aiming towards.)
How An Organizer Thinks
Basic organizing requires a certain structural way of thinking. This thinking structure is based upon tactics, strategies and goals. Successful tactics are the building blocks of successful strategies. Successful strategies are what creates the achievement of goals and victory.
Having been a successful organizer himself, Senator Obama understands this concept very well. This is why, early in his presidential bid, Senator Obama told us to “use this campaign as a vehicle for accomplishing that which needs to be accomplished.” In other words, winning the election is not the goal. Instead, it is a strategy for achieving larger objectives.
By this thinking, voter registration and other GOTV activities are more of a tactic than anything else — important tactics that contribute to successful strategies. If winning the election is the goal, then such GOTV activities would be reasonable strategies. Since Senator Obama told us that winning the election is actually the building of a successful strategy, we definitely need to incorporate GOTV2 tactics into our arsenal.