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Ben Brandzel
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Ben Brandzel is a leading international practitioner, trainer and writer in the field of progressive online organizing. Currently the Director of Incubation and International Programs at Citizen Engagement Lab, he's served as Advocacy Director for MoveOn.org and Director of New Media Campaigns and Fundraising for Barack Obama's Organizing for America. He's a founding board member and former Senior Campaigner at Avaaz.org and the Chief Founding Advisor for UK's 38 Degrees.org.uk. His writing has appeared in the American Prospect and The Nation magazines, amongst others. Ben is an avid biker and aspiring guitarist who lives in Berkeley and Washington DC.

Blog Entries by Ben Brandzel

Remembering the Grassroots Fight for Health Reform

(0) Comments | Posted March 23, 2011 | 5:21 PM

By Natalie Foster and Ben Brandzel

One year ago today, we were standing with our exhausted staff around our desks at Organizing for America, watching President Obama sign the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.

The cheers, high-fives, and deep sighs of joy were the stuff you...

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The Unbreakable Culture of the Occupied Capitol

(24) Comments | Posted March 1, 2011 | 4:48 AM

As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker bolts the windows and bars the doors of the capitol building to scare, shrink and starve the ongoing protest within, it's important for everyone outside to understand just what he's so afraid of, and why.

I write this after completing a once-in-a-lifetime week in...

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Interdependence or Death

(4) Comments | Posted January 19, 2011 | 2:11 PM

How the debate about rhetoric is missing the "big lesson" that must define the post-Tucson Massacre world.

By sheer chance, the first time I ever woke up in Tucson, Arizona was the fateful morning of Saturday, January 8th. I was visiting old friends who live about a mile down the...

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Rally to Restore Satyagraha?

(7) Comments | Posted October 31, 2010 | 11:48 PM

Wandering around the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear yesterday, I kept asking myself, "what exactly are we doing here?"

In part, that's because I literally couldn't hear anything from the stage (and I'm still not sure what was going on there). But mostly, it was that many of...

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Why Progressives Should Back the President's Plan.

(379) Comments | Posted March 9, 2010 | 8:18 PM

Dear MoveOn members (and fellow progressive types),

Yesterday and today, MoveOn members have been asked to vote on a very important question: "Should MoveOn support or oppose the final health care bill if it looks like the plan recently proposed by President Obama?"

This is a major decision, both for...

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Why John Edwards Believers Should Support Barack Obama

(136) Comments | Posted February 12, 2008 | 8:14 PM

Can We Still Build One America? Yes We Can

(Note: I was the former Director of Online Engagement for John Edwards for President. The following reflects only the personal views of the author, and in no way represents the views of John Edwards, his campaign, nor anyone else currently or...

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