Grass-roots organizing gives Obama an edge - Los Angeles Times

Grass-roots organizing gives Obama an edge - Los Angeles Times

Good story on how Obama's grassroots give him the edge.

"The costly effort began in the spring of 2007, in part to counter the organizational resources of unions and Democratic Party organizations that were largely committed to Obama's Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. The precinct-level operations were to employ theories of community organizing Obama practiced in Chicago before getting into electoral politics.

Last April, Obama's national field director, Cuauhtemoc "Temo" Figueroa, wrote an internal memo titled "Turning Enthusiasm into Organization," a blueprint for turning Obama's rock star popularity into a more professional and sustained operation.The purpose, Figueroa wrote, is to provide supporters with the tools to create "self-sufficient, interdependent teams that take responsibility for all aspects of a campaign within their congressional district."

Trained, empowered and then trusted their grassroots organizations. Very cool.

I would be willing to bet that one of the other strengths was NOT being an existing union or party organization. It probably gave them the freedom to try new things, ignore "traditional" methods and really innovate.