Academic

Team Obama: The Community Organizing Campaign

By Dan Filler

Many of us are addicted to the Presidential polls.  Pollster.com and RealClearPolitics provide constant updates of both national and statewide canvasses.  And then there's fivethirtyeight.com, which projects likely outcomes of the race.  But from the point of view of an Obama supporter - and particularly a supporter who believes in Obama not simply because he's a Dem, but precisely because he's a community organizer - this account of the Obama Campaign in Ohio is quite compelling.  Taking a close look at Middletown, Ohio and its environs, Zack Exley shows how the Obama team has invested in organizational infrastructure...and a management style designed to empower even low level organizers.  Everyone has ownership of the vote production process and, I suspect, Team Obama will be both motivated and effective on election day.  If Obama does ultimately win this race, that success will itself be good evidence of his managerial abilities.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).