Washblog

As some of you know, I have been somewhat involved in the Obama volunteer effort. I've gotten a little farther away but kept my ear to the ground. Reports are not good. Unnecessary conflict, useless and self-defeating power plays, time-consuming and dispiriting squabbles - all these have, it seems, become part of what would otherwise was and probably still is the presidential campaign with the most capacity to create change.

Cooler heads must enter the fray. Whomever you favor for President, this nonsense will undoubtedly enter that campaign. Obama's group just got there first.

People who care also tend to over-react. Arguably anyone who spends a lot of time messing with politics is already over-reacting - and that's all of us. The tragedies of our fellow citizens' response to 9/11, the Democrats' cowardly and unpatriotic response to the Bush war on Iraq, the dearth of new ideas on the intellectual Left and the intellectual Right's being infected with insane notions normally associated only with Anarcho-Capitalists and the most racist religious parties in Israel have all thrown people who care into a panic (and that's only a partial list). Not only has the normal, achingly-frustrating pace of positive change been slowed to a standstill, but we who care feel our society sliding backwards at an alarming rate.

In such a circumstance, over-reaction seems reasonable. Even conspiracy theories seem not so far from the truth as to be incredible. But at the end of the day, the conversation here is about keeping the faith in the normal processes of government and the good sense and judgment of the American people. But the conversation has to be dialed up, intensely considered and expanded to other forums. People on this list cannot satisfy themselves with thinking of small things nor can they succumb to hysteria. Most importantly, all of you have to trust your judgment and wisdom and share your considered opinions with the naïve who are joining our ranks.

We have to conclude that there are those in the Democratic party who believe that, by front-loading the primary process, they have effectively cut us out. Big-money Democrats must be reassuring each other than Super Tuesday simply creates a challenge that is too large for the Netroots and the Grassroots. And, to be fair, we may not seem like people whom the party can depend on to make it to the next level. We also happen to be the Democratic party's only hope. We are all they/we have.

The big-money game that the Clintons played has been tried and it has failed. There is no rational reason to believe that it will do anything but fail again. Republicans have money, a unified message machine and "hot" issues that can move many voters quickly. Dems have less money, an uninified message machine and mainly cooler issues that move voters more gradually. We are only succeeding because the Republicans have overplayed their hand - for the moment. A terrorist incident could make McCain's and Giuliani's lunatic ravings seem rational enough. We have to persuade people that our way is less exciting, less emotionally satisfying, but will lead America to a calmer, brighter future.

Everybody knows that! Still there is enormous frustration.

This comes from the pace of change and because Dem leadership doesn't believe in America or the party. They believe that just by putting their lame, mealy-mouthed message on TV with the right talking head and an "assumptive close", they can take power. All they need is to silence the distractions and get people to repeat the pitch. They don't want to hear from Netroots or Grassroots because we're not "closers". We provoke discussion rather than end it. But what the Dems don't realize is that we offer - again in sales-speak - the "alternative close"  

For reasons I will discuss in the comments section, two messages are, at this time, better than one. This is already and will remain a two-message, coalition campaign in 2008. We just have to believe in the value of our part of the coalition, ignore our own frustrations, stop trying to control things and help each other get the messages out there. The Dem leadership is already communicating their desire to squelch the second message. Like us, they also do this out of panic and frustration. But it's hard to ignore the hostility and the childish need for control and easy to internalize them. Many Obama volunteers have totally internalized the conflict the Dem leadership has created. So will the volunteers in the other campaigns. You folks have to help them. You have to believe in your demonstrated value.

In a coalition, two-message campaign, the most ridiculous argument is about who's in charge. The only challenge is to ATTRACT people to your part of the coalition - not argue how or who, just put the message out there and see who turns up. I have ideological and approach differences with all the major candidates, but they are all strong candidates. Other than Kucinich, they will all run bifurcated campaigns. They will run for the Super Tuesday money and they will ask us to organize the Netroots and Grassroots. What that means is that it is essentially immaterial which candidate you choose. I chose Obama ONLY BECAUSE he was populoar among the Netroots. That's because in this cycle the Dem leadership is in charge of the TV message and the Netroots are in charge of the organizing - all of it.

And all of you know how to organize - that to organize you have to trust the volunteers. Give them the maximum information. Tell them they are great. Help them. Tell them they are great. Feed them. Tell them they are great. Exhort them to believe in themselves. Tell them they are great. Give them the benefit of your considered insight. Tell them they are great. Give them more food. Tell them they are great.

The equation is simple:

Volunteers + Information + Encouragement + Pasta Salad = Victory.

Please help the Obama volunteers to understand that if they are not providing information, encouragement or pasta salad to other volunteers, they are not part of the solution. It's just that simple.