Thoughts on a Grassroots Movement with Broad Appeal
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | Labels: appeal, obama, organizing for america, universal |
I look forward to participating in the Organizing for America Pledge Project Canvass this weekend. I look forward to talking with my neighbors about energy, healthcare, and education in the U.S. I am enthusiastic about initiating a discussion with a swath of people who will potentially make up a cross-section of ages, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political beliefs.
The coalition that Organizing for America is trying to build is currently in trial and error mode. Grassroots organizing to affect actual governance instead of just the outcome of a campaign is probably a new idea in this country (correct me if I'm wrong). The size of the momentum of this movement remains to be seen.
However, I'm betting that it will be successful over the long term. It appears to be a continuation of the Obama presidential campaign. One key reason for its success was because of its broad appeal. The coalition included young and old, rich and poor, many different races, and Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
The universality of the message - let's get the government to work well and serve the American people so that we can be a more prosperous nation - will help to make it more successful than other political movements, or so I predict.
In the right wing of the Republican party, there are currently "Tea Party" and "We Surround Them" movements. It seems to be railing against the massive government spending that's being used to prop up the economy and alleviate the job-loss bleeding. The movement is comprised of people who steadfastly believe that the path that we are on will lead us to "socialism". The right wing is alive and well but seems to be a sliver of the overall U.S. population. Without an effective organization and leadership in place (aside from Rush Limbaugh, who is revolting to almost everyone outside of this circle), I don't see this movement gaining any steam over the long term or even controlling many news cycles in the short-term.
I consider myself to be generally liberal and have a record of voting for Democrats. However, many of my dear sweet comrades in the left wing love screaming and shouting as loudly as their right wing counterparts. They have become incredibly accustomed to railing against the system over the past eight years (some for the past 30 since the Reagan revolution began). Partisan bickering is their modus operandi, with many shouts of "screw the Republicans, we don't need them, let's just railroad them and do whatever the hell we want like Bush did to us!" Shouting "that's not change we can believe in!" at Obama cabinet appointees who are establishment-types, looking for people outside the system who could "come in and clean it up" regardless of whether or not they had the smarts and knowledge to be able to navigate that system that they would've been asked to clean up.
Nowadays, they call for Tim Geithner's head over the AIG bonuses. The idea of firing a Treasury Secretary, who I believe has an excellent economic mind, a strong grasp of the situation, and experience dealing with similar ones, in the middle of this crisis is a stupid reactionary call to arms. AIG bonuses are merely a fraction of a much larger problem that this guy is dealing with.
Back to the point about a universal message....a large number of people who stepped up during the Obama campaign and pushed him through the finish line are generally apolitical and apathetic. These folks woke up in large numbers, and we need them to help push this country in the right direction. We won't get everybody, but we need as many people as possible.
If a large enough portion of American citizens get involved in their government and are educated on the issues, then we will have a government that works. More people become involved and bring a diversity of opinion to the table, and ideas get scrutinized and ultimately strengthened by collaborative effort.
This is not just an appeal to Democrats or Republicans. This is an appeal to all Americans. This is why I'm excited to volunteer for Organizing for America. The movement behind Obama's candidacy moved me like no other politician has, and if that spirit can continue to change the country, then I'm in.
Granted, this operation is being housed in the Democratic Party. I hope that doesn't end up being much of a turnoff to Republicans and Independents. Either way, as long as field organizers continue to handle its operations instead of the usual top-down party structure, then I think we'll be able to keep its broad appeal going.
The coalition that Organizing for America is trying to build is currently in trial and error mode. Grassroots organizing to affect actual governance instead of just the outcome of a campaign is probably a new idea in this country (correct me if I'm wrong). The size of the momentum of this movement remains to be seen.
However, I'm betting that it will be successful over the long term. It appears to be a continuation of the Obama presidential campaign. One key reason for its success was because of its broad appeal. The coalition included young and old, rich and poor, many different races, and Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
The universality of the message - let's get the government to work well and serve the American people so that we can be a more prosperous nation - will help to make it more successful than other political movements, or so I predict.
In the right wing of the Republican party, there are currently "Tea Party" and "We Surround Them" movements. It seems to be railing against the massive government spending that's being used to prop up the economy and alleviate the job-loss bleeding. The movement is comprised of people who steadfastly believe that the path that we are on will lead us to "socialism". The right wing is alive and well but seems to be a sliver of the overall U.S. population. Without an effective organization and leadership in place (aside from Rush Limbaugh, who is revolting to almost everyone outside of this circle), I don't see this movement gaining any steam over the long term or even controlling many news cycles in the short-term.
I consider myself to be generally liberal and have a record of voting for Democrats. However, many of my dear sweet comrades in the left wing love screaming and shouting as loudly as their right wing counterparts. They have become incredibly accustomed to railing against the system over the past eight years (some for the past 30 since the Reagan revolution began). Partisan bickering is their modus operandi, with many shouts of "screw the Republicans, we don't need them, let's just railroad them and do whatever the hell we want like Bush did to us!" Shouting "that's not change we can believe in!" at Obama cabinet appointees who are establishment-types, looking for people outside the system who could "come in and clean it up" regardless of whether or not they had the smarts and knowledge to be able to navigate that system that they would've been asked to clean up.
Nowadays, they call for Tim Geithner's head over the AIG bonuses. The idea of firing a Treasury Secretary, who I believe has an excellent economic mind, a strong grasp of the situation, and experience dealing with similar ones, in the middle of this crisis is a stupid reactionary call to arms. AIG bonuses are merely a fraction of a much larger problem that this guy is dealing with.
Back to the point about a universal message....a large number of people who stepped up during the Obama campaign and pushed him through the finish line are generally apolitical and apathetic. These folks woke up in large numbers, and we need them to help push this country in the right direction. We won't get everybody, but we need as many people as possible.
If a large enough portion of American citizens get involved in their government and are educated on the issues, then we will have a government that works. More people become involved and bring a diversity of opinion to the table, and ideas get scrutinized and ultimately strengthened by collaborative effort.
This is not just an appeal to Democrats or Republicans. This is an appeal to all Americans. This is why I'm excited to volunteer for Organizing for America. The movement behind Obama's candidacy moved me like no other politician has, and if that spirit can continue to change the country, then I'm in.
Granted, this operation is being housed in the Democratic Party. I hope that doesn't end up being much of a turnoff to Republicans and Independents. Either way, as long as field organizers continue to handle its operations instead of the usual top-down party structure, then I think we'll be able to keep its broad appeal going.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment