New Democrats learning the Obama ground game

HALIFAX – New Democrats were treated to the secrets of winning on the ground when Marshall Ganz, designer of President Obama’s grassroots campaign, spoke to the national convention today.

“The people who need the change have to be authors of that change, and that happens because there is skilled leadership to make that happen,” said Ganz. “In the Obama campaign the right candidate in the right setting gave us the opportunity to reintroduce the whole country to targeted campaigning; recognizing people as citizens working together, to build their future together.”

Barack Obama won the White House with a stunningly successful ground campaign. Ganz described how the Obama team turned organisers into leaders, with the skills, strategies and data needed to win. Organisers learned to connect their own story to the campaign and build a grassroots movement for change.

“Progressives in the United States are very familiar with the politics of disappointment,” said Ganz. “The politics of hope is a lot more challenging. In the politics of hope you have to take the chance to seize the opportunities. We’re in a fast moment right now and so what we do really matters. The combination of a hopeful heart and a critical eye is what spurs change.”

Ganz began his career working with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, and has been at the forefront of organising popular political movements in the United States. He now lectures in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.