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U.Va. president optimistic and thankful at luncheon
39 minutes ago
Monday, March 15, 2010
Charlottesville, VA Coffee Party Interview with Eric Byler
Eric Byler is interviewed by a Charlottesville TV station on Saturday, March 13, in Charlottesville on Coffee Party National Kick-off Day. According to the Coffee Party USA website, there were more than 350 coffee party meetings in 44 states on Saturday. In addition, there are now 159,000 fans on the Coffee Party Facebook page, compared to 111,991 fans for the largest Tea Party Facebook page. Not bad for a 100% grassroots movement that's just a few weeks old!
UPDATE: See the FiveThirtyEight interview with Annabel. Among other things, she talks about how Organizing for America doesn't "inspire" her. I agree, maybe it has something to do with the fact that OFA is 100% establishment, part of the - yaaaaaaawwwwwn - DNC?
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It would almost be nice to go back to the days of the 50 State Strategy... at least those organizers seemed to interact with the Democratic Party and the grassroots base. OFA seems entirely disconnected from both... but perhaps that's just my perception.
ReplyDeleteit's a matter of resources. OFA is still adding staff. people may see more organizers showing up soon, especially in this midterm cycle. there were also four county dem committee chairs at yesterday's big NoVa OFA meeting, pretty sure they came away happy with what they heard.
ReplyDeleteand "establishment," lowell? did you miss your teen- /20-something punk period and are trying to make up for it now? ;)
but srsly, i'm open to what the coffee party can do, just no need to bash OFA, heh, let 100 flowers bloom.
- josh a.
Josh: I'll just quote my friend Annabel Park on this one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/03/coffee-party-founder-disappointed-in.html
You’re an organizer but you’ve also been involved in Democratic politics in the past, working on Jim Webb’s Senate campaign in Virginia. That said, what’s your sense of how well the Obama White House, the Democratic National Committee and Organizing For America have fared since Obama came to the White House in terms of organizing all the people who supported him in 2008?
I really don’t know what to say. First, I want to clarify that I’ve only volunteered for campaigns, never been paid.
Secondly, I think it's hard to turn a grassroots movement for change into an extension of the government.
Do you think they [Obama Administration, the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America] have lost their organic touch?
Well it would be difficult to be organic when you're part of the party machine.
I don’t know. I just know I don’t feel inspired by OFA. I don’t know why. I just don’t feel any desire to be part of their efforts.
Do you think Obama should let his inner community organizer come out a bit more?
I don't know what Obama should do exactly other than to keep pointing out the opposition's tactics and communicate directly to people. I personally think that he may be a good driver and I see him trying, but the fact is we are asking him to drive a broken car.
I'd also point you to this Rolling Stone article, "No We Can't: Obama had millions of followers eager to fight for his agenda. But the president muzzled them - and he's paying the price"
ReplyDeletelowell, to annabel's 538 comments: while i love organic movements, anything that scales past 50 people needs rules and isn't very organic anymore. if annabel thinks the u.s. can be governed and yes, politicked organically, that strikes me as quite a peculiar notion.
ReplyDeletesecond, we can debate the transition from OFA 1.0 to 2.0, but once launched, 2.0 had two people on the ground in VA this summer, paid staff is still quite small while the list of vol community organizers and neighborhood team leaders grows. people have to have patience and not freak out every time wolf blitzer regurgitates teabag talking points.
also, folks seem to think obama has magic faery dust to make his agenda happen with a few speeches and someone else knocking on doors.
each and every person has to make the decision for her/himself to get out of the house and start calling/knocking -- most of the time without inspiration, i might add, it can be just plain work. i know you know this, lowell, just laying it out for any other readers.
and guess what? we've got an OFA phonebank at ACDC tonight! come on out!
Josh: I think there's a role for OFA and there's a role for grassroots movements like the Coffee Party. Let them each do their thing, and may a thousand flowers bloom (and all that). :)
ReplyDeletep.s. what a weird article, that rolling stone piece: 45,000 people making 2.3 million calls, what a failure of an organization, this OFA!
ReplyDeleteAnnabel has a right to be uninspired by one approach and inspired by another. I sense she wouldn't want anyone turning her honest statement into an attack on friends of hers who are working very hard to realize the President's agenda through OFA.
ReplyDeleteI have a foot in both organizations and, though I see them both moving people in the right direction, they're apples and oranges in many respects.
OFA offers me the opportunity to work with the best in the organizing business, people with tremendous talents and resources. I know I'll be working on what the President thinks is most important right now and my work will be leveraged by a proven organizational system.
With the Coffee Party, I have a chance to participate in the creation of something that has sprung from people's hearts in response to a real problem with our political process. Right now, it feels more grassroots than OFA, but very few are in the inner decision-making circle - only a handful can be - and growing pains are sure to come.
I have faith in the Coffee Party as an exercise in process that may lead to real effectiveness. I have faith in OFA to keep me in the loop and give me really good work.
PLEASE let's work together! If a bungler like me can straddle the two groups, surely they can't be that far apart.
Pat
Well said, Pat.
ReplyDelete