Political Organizing: Lessons from the Obama Campaign

The Obama campaign captured the imagination of the world. It was a brilliant operation that made a political candidate hip, saw a rise in volunteerism and got people to vote who would normally not. With elections next year, the Philippines can learn a lot from these strategies. That is why the National Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS), with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF), held a series of workshops on political organizing from 4 – 6 February 2009 in San Juan and Quezon City for civil society. NIPS invited Obama’08 political consultant Joe Hansen to speak on his experiences as a political organizer and on lessons learned from the Obama campaign.

To begin with, Hansen pointed out that politics is about people. It is they who can be energized to create movements of mass action. What they need are opportunities and incentives to engage in the political process. This can be summed up in three principles: Respect, empower and include. Obama’s campaign tried to include anyone who wanted to help. It respected their potential by giving them responsibility and sustained their energy by giving them freedom to produce results.

He cautioned however by saying that before campaigns can electrify people, there must be a clear message. It has to be repeated consistently, and it has to be a message that people can relate to. What people want to learn from a candidate are two things: “Does this person care about people like me?” “Does this person share my values?”

A message also has to be contrasted. It has to inspire people to either vote for or against something. It must also draw a clear distinction between the message of the opponents. The message should then be communicated using an integration of both traditional and new media in order to reach people where they are.

He encouraged civil society to get engaged in the political process. He noted that most issues championed by civil society ultimately have to be decided by an elected official; hence, the political process is of crucial importance. Civil Society, however, should keep in mind that politics is an incremental process, balancing and negotiating diverse legitimate interests. A candidate therefore will not meet the interests of a particular group by 100 percent. It is necessary for concerned groups to “swallow their pride” and accept that sometimes they have to compromise in view of the goal. If the candidate meets their objectives but not in the manner they envision, they have to make adjustments for the bigger picture.

It is also continuous process. “Election day is only the second day,” he said. Organizations should keep trying to influence politicians’ decisions and hold them accountable for their promises. After all, democracy is strengthened by their continuous interactions.

“Joe Hansen has made a valuable contribution to the political discourse in the country. He enabled us to understand the larger issues behind the Obama campaign. “Lessons people in all democracies can draw from,” observed FNF Resident Representative Siegfried Herzog. “The point is not to try to clone Barack Obama, but to develop a message that resonates with people’s aspirations, and to engage them to be part of something bigger than themselves.”