Obama Social Network

As the first round of OFA Listening Tours continues, we have more reports from the field. First, from the Daily Iowan:

Thursday night’s stop in Iowa City — which consisted of two separate meetings — was the second of the 17-visit Iowa tour, which the group’s Iowa director, Derek Eadon, said should be complete by the end of this month.

Staffed by former campaign members, the group will focus more on specific issues and advancing Obama’s agenda than getting candidates elected. Phone calls to senators and representatives, letters to the editor, and knocking on doors will be part of the organization’s advocacy, although more specific details are still in the works.

UI sophomore Jacob Rosenberg, who was a member of Hawkeyes for Obama and attended Thursday night’s meeting, sees the organization as integral to advancing the president’s agenda. It’s paramount, he said, for “issues and policies to be passed through specific groups.”

… The listening tours are designed to get feedback and comments from supporters and former volunteers. Those who attended Thursday’s first meeting broke up into groups and discussed the ramifications of different organizational structures and other aspects of organizing through the grassroots.

Additional listening tour stops could be scheduled, but Eadon said potential leaders will be tapped, and the structure will be set up “rather quickly.”

Political-science Associate Professor David Redlawsk said that although such an organization is uncommon post-election, the move may prove to be effective.

“I think in many respects, it’s actually relatively smart to do this,” he said, calling the formation of the organization unusual yet not “all that surprising.”

“Given [Obama’s] focus on community organizing, there’s just a certain logic to doing this kind of thing.”

And from the Milwaukee/Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:

President Barack Obama’s election in November wasn’t enough for some of his supporters.

A Waukesha County group that worked on the campaign met in Bradlee Fons’ Pewaukee living room in December to celebrate Obama’s election and decided to keep meeting. Since then, the group has gathered monthly to coordinate community service projects at a homeless shelter and develop ways to address issues such as health care, energy and the economy.

"We can’t let this enthusiasm and passion from the campaign go wasted," Fons said.

What happened in Fons’ living room is being duplicated across the country as the Obama campaign morphs into an effort called Organizing for America. The group wants the thousands of people who helped elect Obama – and some who didn’t – to stay involved in the political and community-building process.

Supporters are organizing events locally, as well as participating in bigger national efforts.

Last month, volunteers across the country collected pledges of support for Obama’s budget proposal. Fons and Ellen Gangnon, also of Pewaukee, helped gather nearly 300 signatures, while Dream Gunther-Nettesheim of Milwaukee worked to organize a group that collected about 600.

While the effort could be viewed as raising the ante in the continuous campaign cycle, the move to establish long-term ties and get feedback from citizens reflects Obama’s community-organizing experience, said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Katherine Cramer Walsh.

"If you’re going to get people to act in any way or support a cause, you have to go to them and listen to their concerns and establish relationships by talking with them in their own communities and getting a sense of the way they understand the world," she said.

… UW’s Walsh said the ongoing economic slump has contributed to a surge in people wanting their voices to be heard.

"Pocketbook issues hit really close to home for everybody, and it’s that kind of stuff that gets people energized," she said. "Across the board, people are desperate for change."

… Over the coming weeks, state Organizing for America Director Dan Grandone will hold 20 listening sessions across the state to hear what people expect of the Obama administration and how the network can get to work in their communities.

… Listening sessions are set for Saturday in Oconomowoc and Sunday in Milwaukee and Grafton.

"It really gives us a lot of room and space . . . to hear what the organization can look like and what will keep them excited about staying very actively involved," Grandone said.

About 55 people turned out for a listening session with Grandone on Wednesday evening in the basement of a Middleton pizzeria.

… "I’m hoping we’ll be able to steer this country in the right direction just by sheer volume of people who are more educated and interested in politics and the things that affect their lives," [Gunther-Nettesheim] said.

As the first round of OFA Listening Tours continues, we have more reports from the field. First, from the Daily Iowan:

Thursday night’s stop in Iowa City — which consisted of two separate meetings — was the second of the 17-visit Iowa tour, which the group’s Iowa director, Derek Eadon, said should be complete by the end of this month.

Staffed by former campaign members, the group will focus more on specific issues and advancing Obama’s agenda than getting candidates elected. Phone calls to senators and representatives, letters to the editor, and knocking on doors will be part of the organization’s advocacy, although more specific details are still in the works.

UI sophomore Jacob Rosenberg, who was a member of Hawkeyes for Obama and attended Thursday night’s meeting, sees the organization as integral to advancing the president’s agenda. It’s paramount, he said, for “issues and policies to be passed through specific groups.”

… The listening tours are designed to get feedback and comments from supporters and former volunteers. Those who attended Thursday’s first meeting broke up into groups and discussed the ramifications of different organizational structures and other aspects of organizing through the grassroots.

Additional listening tour stops could be scheduled, but Eadon said potential leaders will be tapped, and the structure will be set up “rather quickly.”

Political-science Associate Professor David Redlawsk said that although such an organization is uncommon post-election, the move may prove to be effective.

“I think in many respects, it’s actually relatively smart to do this,” he said, calling the formation of the organization unusual yet not “all that surprising.”

“Given [Obama’s] focus on community organizing, there’s just a certain logic to doing this kind of thing.”

And from the Milwaukee/Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:

President Barack Obama’s election in November wasn’t enough for some of his supporters.

A Waukesha County group that worked on the campaign met in Bradlee Fons’ Pewaukee living room in December to celebrate Obama’s election and decided to keep meeting. Since then, the group has gathered monthly to coordinate community service projects at a homeless shelter and develop ways to address issues such as health care, energy and the economy.

"We can’t let this enthusiasm and passion from the campaign go wasted," Fons said.

What happened in Fons’ living room is being duplicated across the country as the Obama campaign morphs into an effort called Organizing for America. The group wants the thousands of people who helped elect Obama – and some who didn’t – to stay involved in the political and community-building process.

Supporters are organizing events locally, as well as participating in bigger national efforts.

Last month, volunteers across the country collected pledges of support for Obama’s budget proposal. Fons and Ellen Gangnon, also of Pewaukee, helped gather nearly 300 signatures, while Dream Gunther-Nettesheim of Milwaukee worked to organize a group that collected about 600.

While the effort could be viewed as raising the ante in the continuous campaign cycle, the move to establish long-term ties and get feedback from citizens reflects Obama’s community-organizing experience, said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Katherine Cramer Walsh.

"If you’re going to get people to act in any way or support a cause, you have to go to them and listen to their concerns and establish relationships by talking with them in their own communities and getting a sense of the way they understand the world," she said.

… UW’s Walsh said the ongoing economic slump has contributed to a surge in people wanting their voices to be heard.

"Pocketbook issues hit really close to home for everybody, and it’s that kind of stuff that gets people energized," she said. "Across the board, people are desperate for change."

… Over the coming weeks, state Organizing for America Director Dan Grandone will hold 20 listening sessions across the state to hear what people expect of the Obama administration and how the network can get to work in their communities.

… Listening sessions are set for Saturday in Oconomowoc and Sunday in Milwaukee and Grafton.

"It really gives us a lot of room and space . . . to hear what the organization can look like and what will keep them excited about staying very actively involved," Grandone said.

About 55 people turned out for a listening session with Grandone on Wednesday evening in the basement of a Middleton pizzeria.

… "I’m hoping we’ll be able to steer this country in the right direction just by sheer volume of people who are more educated and interested in politics and the things that affect their lives," [Gunther-Nettesheim] said.

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