CALD Organizes Obama-inspired Campaign Roundtable

Left to right: Mr. Siegfried Herzog, Mr. Joe Hansen and Dr. Neric Acosta

Two weeks after the historical inauguration of America’s first black president, the Council of Asian Liberals Democrats (CALD) decided to jumpstart 2009 by learning from the best practices of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. With the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) and the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP), CALD held a political campaign roundtable from 1-4 February 2009 at Makati City. It invited Joe Hansen, campaign strategist and political consultant of the U.S. Democratic Party, to provide insights based on the Obama campaign.

Participants came from Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. The delegation was composed of members of parliament and leaders from liberal political parties. Dr. Rainer Adam, FNF regional director for East and Southeast Asia, formally opened the workshop and welcomed the participants.

Hansen laid out the fundamental organizational strategies that the Obama team utilized. He also spoke on the crucial factors, such as messaging and communication, which made the campaign a remarkable success.

The participants later on presented their insights, based on his input, vis-à-vis their experiences in their respective countries. They focused on how their parties would be able to craft an effective campaign message given their specific political context. They also evaluated the innovative mechanisms and the modern tools that helped increase Obama’s grassroots reach. The participants concluded that their countries, regardless of its political setting, had viable channels that would help communicate their aspirations to the people.

“Learning from the Obama campaign underscored a key lesson: while every country has its own unique preconditions and systems, the narrative of hope is universal,” said Dr. Neric Acosta, secretary general of CALD. “What we ought to focus on as liberal parties is the need to effectively engage people with fresh ideas, clear policy options and greater inspiration,” he added.

Joe Hansen has been active in Democratic Party politics for over 25 years. He is a partner in the direct mail firm of Ambrosino Muir & Hansen. Prior to these efforts, Hansen served as executive director, then later as senior advisor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.