The Obama Campaign Comes to Pennsylvania

I've worked a lot of campaigns in my life. Everything from school board and alderman, through statewide contests, as well as Presidential campaigns. Working campaigns has changed a lot since I was a kid and you started out STRICTLY RETAIL by licking envelopes and doing door to door lit drops.

I know that many of you have never worked a campaign, so you may be curious how one gets involved in a campaign. For local campaigns, it's relatively easy -- generally the candidate is someone you actually know (or are related to….). Local campaigns are fun because you talk up someone you truly believe in to other people you know. I have a friend running in this year's primary for a local spot, and if he wins, even though he's a Republican, I'll work for him because I know him, I like him, respect the fact that his positions are moderate (which is what I support on a local basis) and I'll be glad to call people I know in our district, and do lit drops. That's a local election. All retail.

For the statewide offices, you also may know the candidate. Or else, you're involved with your local party. And then someone calls you and says "I'm running, will you write me a check, or work at my headquarters." Alternately, if it's your first campaign, you call them or stop by the local store front, and write your name on the list for when you'll do phone banking.

And then there are the BIG campaigns. The first big campaign I worked was in 1976. Back then, it was actually easy to meet the candidates. I had taken a year off from college, and was doing some grunt work for Paul Sarbanes (who won the MD Senate seat). I met Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown. They just stopped by the campaign office to chat with the workers. It was an election full of hope -- the first true post-Watergate election.

Since then, I have worked elections for candidates at all levels, have done voter registration drives, and have done non-partisan things like working at the polls for the County. I have stuffed envelopes, run phone banks, done election day logistics, counted votes, been a poll-watcher -- you name it, I've always loved it.

And I've been contacted by campaigns -- normally a phone call from someone local asking me to participate. Sometimes, direct calls from candidates.

Since the internet has taken hold as "netroots" -- there are a lot of organizations that send emails to ask for your involvement -- everything from calling your Congressman/Senator, to giving money, to signing petitions, to working at election sites to insure fairness (Move On is especially big on this last point.) In addition, there are the strict issue groups (NRA, NARAL, NORML, etc) who contact you to work for or against a specific person based on one issue.

But today, the Obama campaign officially arrives in Pennsylvania, and they are doing something I've never seen before. The perfect marriage of outreach and individuality. If this is an inkling of how Obama would run that large bureaucracy called "the US government" -- it's truly impressive.

First, there was an email from the state coordinator saying that the campaign would arrive on March 1^st. A simple link where you could put in your zip code and find official events near you. The events, for today and tomorrow, include training sessions for GOTV activities, registration drives, and organizing techniques. Most are followed by canvassing. There are also Sunday night/Monday night events so groups of people can make phone calls to the Tuesday primary states -- actual calls, not robocalls.

In addition, individuals have the ability to set up non-official local groups and events. The local groups include groups at certain local colleges, some which are geographic ("Main Line for Obama"), some are demographic ("Women for Obama" "Veterans for Obama"). Events include primary results watching parties, meet-and-greets, and discussion groups. Don't like any? You can start your own.

The approach is at once centralized and decentralized, slick but welcoming, detailed but easy to navigate. I've never seen anything like it, and as you all know -- I actually pay attention…if someone had done something like this in the past, I would have known.

For my political action for this year, (in addition to actual candidate work) I will be running my personal GOTV program, which some of you (sad to say) have watched with jaw-dropping horror. I believe in process, I believe that "voting" is far more an obligation than a right -- and as soon as I get over to the county building to replenish my supply, I'll be back to asking everyone I meet whether they are registered to vote, and if they're not, will have voter registration forms. If you're planning on your own GOTV program -- the most effective locations are restaurant wait-staffs, and checkers at the market and the Home Depot (which has a surprising percentage of not-yet-registered people, for some reason, more than Lowe's or the local hardware stores). Bad locations include bookstores (because normally readers are also voters), dental offices, and car mechanic shops.

People often say to me that their vote doesn't make a difference, or that no matter what they do, things won't change. They rail about corruption, and ingrained people and special interests.

But I disagree.

We are the only country in the history of the world with free, scheduled, elections, where the transfer of power has always been bloodless. (For any of you who want to write back and say "What about England?" -- NO -- they ***CALL*** elections, and they're not scheduled. And for those that want to claim Mexico has scheduled elections -- yes that's true, but they're not free, and they're not honest.) Political action is part of how we became a country.

The Obama campaign has come to Pennsylvania, bringing hope and organization. Perhaps in their honour, the expected 3 inches of snow which was to fall last night never materialized….

And oh yes, the Clinton campaign has also come to Pennsylvania -- they wrote and asked for money, and said they are looking for volunteers. This is also the state that never actually filed a full delegate state for the primary, even after Ed Rendell extended the deadline for them. They never thought it would get so far -- kind of echoes of the 2002 Iraq vote……