The First Lesson of the Obama Victory: To Bring Fundamental Change You Have to Have More than a Campaign Organization, You Need a Movement

Barack Obama's victory would not have been possible had he simply created a traditional campaign organization. To win, Obama needed a movement. The same will be true in order to enact Obama's agenda for change in the months ahead.

There is no doubt that Obama had a marvelous campaign organization. David Plouffe and David Axelrod orchestrated a virtually flawless campaign. At every level there was a commitment to precision - to the view that no stone should ever be left unturned. The press work, the ads, the field operations, the fund raising all set the bar for political excellence and innovation.

An organization like that was absolutely necessary to win, but by itself it was not sufficient for victory. Axelrod and Plouffe knew they needed a movement.

Movements have qualities not necessary shared by simple organizations - even the biggest organizations. To become a movement an organization must have three critical elements:

1). Movements are viral. In normal organizations people relate through an organizational structure, or chain of command. Typically they are recruited and mobilized directly by the organization - either individually or by a leader who has followers.

In movements, participants spontaneously recruit and mobilize others. Movements involve spontaneous chain reactions of participation. The organization doesn't recruit or mobilize each person individually - or even through leaders (like unions or constituency groups). Instead people tell people who tell people who tell people. There is a geometric expansion of participation.

Over the four decades that I have worked as an organizer and strategist in politics there have been very few instances of spontaneous chain reactions of political participation. The civil rights movement and movement against the Viet Nam War met those criteria. A limited number of electoral campaigns - like the campaign to elect Harold Washington the first African American mayor of Chicago -- have as well. But mostly for the last forty years progressive organizing has involved traditional organizations - not movements.

The Internet has provided a new latticework that has profoundly increased the opportunity to generate viral activity. MoveOn.org became a movement when it was first organized to stop the impeachment of President Clinton. It exploded geometrically. But to work, the Internet, and all of the other more traditional word of mouth means of driving viral expansion, must be powered by element number two.

2). In order to "go viral" movements must be fueled by inspiration. Inspiration is always about one thing: the feeling of empowerment.

To be inspired a person must feel empowered. That in turn requires two conditions. To feel empowered someone has to feel that he or she is part of an inherently meaningful cause or activity that is bigger than himself. Second the inspired person must feel that he or she can personally play a significant role in that larger, meaningful cause.

Obama knows how to inspire voters - and activists - better than any Presidential candidate in 40 years. And his organization - including his Internet tools -- made it possible to engage massive numbers of people to do discreet activities that made them feel that they could personally contribute to an historic outcome.

Movements are not led by leaders who tell people what they will do for us. They are led by leaders who call on others to be part of a massive collective undertaking. They are lead by leaders that call on voters and activists to sacrifice - to do whatever is necessary to change history.

John Kennedy called in Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Not since his brother Robert Kennedy's last campaign in 1968, have we had a leader who has so consistently called on Americans to sacrifice for the common good - to take history into their own hands. Not until Barack Obama.

At first it might seem ironic, but a sense of personal empowerment isn't about "where's mine". Empowerment happens when you are called upon to make a commitment to something other than yourself.

Of course, for African Americans - and all people of color -- Obama is particularly inspirational. Obama inspires all types of people by what he says. But he is especially inspirational to African Americans because of who he is.

All inspiration involves the way the listener feels about himself - not just the candidate. For many African Americans, Obama's victory was not simply about changing America's course, or electing the best candidate. It was about their own sense of identity. It changed the way African American children look at themselves and their futures. It has enhanced the sense of personal empowerment for all African Americans - for all people of color.

3). To be sustained, movements require organizations built to allow each individual to make a personal, meaningful contribution to achieve the goal. Movements that do not have strong organizational infrastructures fissile like meteors. They aren't sustainable because strong organizational structures are necessary in order to offer people the essential ability to regularly, systematically make meaningful contributions to the overarching goal over time.

You can have a strong organization without a movement, but you can't have a long lasting movement without a strong organization.

Paul Tewes Directed the Iowa campaign that propelled Obama to victory in the Iowa caucuses. On the day he took the job he said that his major problem was to figure out how to construct an organization that could sustain a movement over the next 21 months.

Tewes, Obama Field Director Jon Carson, and the incredible Obama Internet staff, built an organizational structure - both on the ground and in cyberspace - that was geared from day one to encourage, nurture and sustain a movement. The same was true of the campaign's fundraising apparatus.

In the end that produced an army of 500,000 who got out the vote Election Day and 3.2 million individual donors -- people who were "Fired up and ready to go."

Movements have a power exponentially greater than everyday campaign organizations. And movements can command far more commitment from their participants, since the very act of participation makes people feel more powerful.

To win the battles to enact Obama's ambitions program we need to sustain the Obama movement. Passing health care for all, crafting a program for energy independence, creating a bottom up economic revival, changing the way campaigns are financed - all of these things will gore a lot of special interest oxes.

To be successful we need more than the power of the Presidency, we need more than leadership in Congress, we need a massive movement for change that will hold Members of Congress accountable. If we want to grasp the opportunity to create a new progressive era, then maintaining and fueling that movement must be our top priority.

Robert Creamer is a long time political organizer and strategist and author of the recent book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com.

Comments

[vegas9999]

For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president.

[Oregon Ivy]

Bush got his chance, we gave him a second term (well some of you did), and he blew it.

[onlinesavant]

Respect is earned. If you do not respect U.S. then we have no need to respect you. Bush was not elected, and he has done a terrible job. He is one of the worst ever in the job.

[EmmJay1025]

Great article. Obama speaks to the highest aspect of our nature. He is a visionary and we share a common vision...of Unity...because we instinctively know that Duality and Fear are part of the "great illusion" and that Unity/Love is beyond the duality of illusioin. Love is REAL ...we can feel it and it moves us to action. We are our brother's keepers. For we are our brothers....Obama understands this...

[ToonMoene]

> Obama knows how to inspire voters - and activists - better than
> any Presidential candidate in 40 years.

Two score years ago, this European guy received the message from the US of A that the American Dream had been shattered: A young, black, Nobel Peace Prize winner, who did nothing but organize peaceful, non-violent gatherings to end a grave inequality, was assassinated.

On the 5th of November, 4 a.m. CET, I got the message that the US is in play again. It again is attractive (I never understood this hullabaloo I have to go through every half year when visiting the US - I was not interested in immigration).

However, the 5th changed that - the US is attractive for immigration again.

[MagisterLudi]

Probably the biggest reason, I, as a lifelong Democrat voted Green this cycle is because of the evidence of developing Obama personality cult.
And reading this blog increased my apprehension. What? A lengthy blog without ONE mention of the Democratic Party and its interests--- which Obama represents ( presumably)!
Think about it, Mr. Creamer.

[Nohari]

Ummmm... The winner of the election IS the party, or did you miss that? It sounds to me like you've been infected with the politics of cynicsm and fear. You call it apprehension. What interests do you want Obama to represent?

Are you really afraid of a "personality cult" or are you expericencing buyer's remorse. Nader is a narcissist who's prime was 30 years ago and McKinney is the political equivalent of a jilted lover, and you expect us to respect your judgement for throwing away your vote?

America is the beacon light of the world. Some of the rest of the world resents us because we take their ideas and make them better (and make money on it). The rest of the world loves us because we take their ideas and make them better... then make the world a better place. Obama will indeed make the world a better place. He's done that already by beating the Clinton machine and then the Right Wing Noise Machine.
[Full Disclosure: I love Bubba, and offered Hillary an opportunity to use me to get back at him for Monica].
But instead of allowing yourself to genuinely commit to a real movement, you've decided to give in to your cynical fearful impulses and decide your path on the basis of "developing evidence".

Hope is about faith. If you have none, you've already lost. This election has given hope not only to our nation, but to the people around the world.

[Oregon Ivy]

President Obama represents the United States of America. ALL the people. NOT just the "Democratic Party." For him to get the citizens involved is exactly what we need. We've been pushed aside for 8 long years and told to sit down and shut up and let Washington run our lives.

All contrary to the foundation this country was built upon.

What part of "no red states and no blue states" don't you get? Cooperation is the key to moving forward, not partisanship.

[alamacTHC]

Great article, and right on.

We need a new Roosevelt to rein in the depredations of the corporatists. We have hope that Obama may potentially be just that--he explicitly names FDR as his inspiration.

But we must remember what FDR himself said: He could not do anything his public didn't force him to do. His public arose & demanded the changes which resulted in the New Deal. Now it is our turn: We must demand the reinstatement of the New Deal & the Fairness Doctrine. We must raise hell until the military-industrial complex is defanged, and its resources redirected toward social needs and infrastructure rebuilding. We must continually and without cessation press for a restoration of our civil liberties and a dismantling of the proto-fascist national "security"/drugwar (read: "oppression") establishment. We must work ceaselessly until single-payer health insurance is a reality for every American. And most importantly: We must demand that the poisonous fossil-fuel economy be converted to renewables NOW before it is too late (if it isn't already).

Yes we can? YES WE MUST, or nothing will change and we will remain on the fast track to Hell. So: MoveOn, DailyKos, HuffPo: How about it?

[BlueTide]

You are absolutely true, fundamental change requires a movement. However, Obama has not caused fundamental change, yet. To do that, he must come fast out of the gate on January 20th. He needs to deliver an inspiring inaugural address and get big legislation passed by summer. By next Memorial Day, his honeymoon period may be over, and from that point on, change will be harder to come by. Then for the changes to be permanent, his policies actually have to work. Americans are smart enough to know when policies aren't working, and they will bring back the Republicans in 2012 or 2016 if Obama's policies don't work or if he fails to get anything done. To get things done, the movement has to continue to push forward even though the election is over.

[HeevenSteven]

I think it's frightening that given the organization of Obama's camp, the disarray of the McCain camp, the flip-flopper sellout McCain, the vacuous Sarah Palin, the disaster of the last 8 years, the win was only 52% TO 47%. I'm stunned.

[jacqmac]

I haven't seen anything that hints of dismantling the movement. Actually, I've seen the opposite. We're standing by--awaiting communications from ' our ' President. And consider the fact that there were LARGE numbers of organizers recruited for this campaign that have VAST amounts of experience as a result of the 'push' and well---I don't think anybody's going anywhere anytime soon! I'm here--I'm ready! What do I need to do? P.S. There's already information afoot that hints that we will ALL be called upon to make telephone calls supporting certain legislation and presidential requests. I'm DEFINITELY ready for THAT one!!

[Aaror]

Obama spoke during the runup to the election of keeping his web site going and allowing people to use it to talk to him. I hope he does that and that it nurtures the movement to keep the pressure on, to keep America moving in the right direction. I hope Obama has the strength to ignore the beltway pundits and ask the American public.

[ckomeshian]

Obama resonated with those of us who know in our own households we must sacrifice and take necessary steps (whether recycling or budgeting) to ensure the healthy future of our environment and economy. McCain represented more of the Bush "sweep it under the rug" mentality. All talk, no action.
Clueless. Out of touch. Dysfunctional. With Obama it wasn't just "Change" it was "Change We Need."
This intelligent and honorable man has a huge job ahead of him as President but already I am feeling the positive effects of his win in my own small community. People are hopeful again and it's infectious.