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Base Building
- 1. Wellstone Action Basebuilding and Elections
- 3. Win Elections While Building Grassroots Power Use of Resources With thanks to the Western States Center Wellstone Action Typical Campaign Drains the base –Resources flow out of community The Progressive View Builds the base and leaves communities with lasting power and new leaders
- 4. Win Elections While Building Grassroots Power Holding Politicians Accountable With thanks to the Western States Center Wellstone Action Typical Campaign Election promises, but no follow-up The Progressive View Leaders actively engage with communities before and after the election
- 5. Conventional Wisdom Wellstone Action Supporters Undecided Opposition 40% 20% 40%
- 6. Conventional Wisdom Wellstone Action Supporters Undecided Opposition 40% 20% 40%
- 8. Wellstone Action So… What do we mean by a base ?
- 13. Wellstone Action Campaign Timeline: Base Vote to Win # Non-Voters General Election Voters (1-5) Primary Voters Organization & Party members Key Leaders and Activists Personal Base Time
- 14. Wellstone Action Too often – This approach means little or no outreach to under-represented voters.
- 18. Wellstone Action Mapping and Targeting Organizational Strength Organizational Weakness Oppose Candidate Support Candidate Don ’t Know
- 19. Wellstone Action Mapping and Targeting Organizational Strength Organizational Weakness Oppose Candidate Support Candidate
Editor's Notes
- Elections can be won in such a way that power is built up in the grassroots. First principle in doing this is to understand that winning is more than 50% plus 1.
- Elections can be won in such a way that power is built up in the grassroots. First principle in doing this is to understand that winning is more than 50% plus 1.
- Elections can be won in such a way that power is built up in the grassroots. First principle in doing this is to understand that winning is more than 50% plus 1.
- Conventional wisdom – assumes a fixed electorate
- Unconventional wisdom – we can (and increasingly only can we win) by enlarging the electorate – growing the base by adding new voters.
- This is not only an effective way to win elections, but to develop new leadership.
- Let ’s back up and start with what we mean by a base. Brainstorm … Is there such a thing as a natural base?
- These are the folks that you can absolutely count on – they are who you fundraise from – they will be the first to step up to help. You do not claim a base – the base claims you. Where do you find it? Where do you spend your time? Where are you most comfortable? Where do you hang out? Who do you want to be with?
- “ Nostalgic” Base – base is defined by the sectors of US society generally associated with a particular political party Discuss traditional base of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party Discuss who among the traditional base of the Democratic Party is relatively less engaged right now such as working class people, African Americans, youth, immigrants, WHY Progressive Base – defined as the group of people who SHOULD be voting for progressive and/or liberal candidates based on their self interest. Tease this out. We actually have to focus on our base and work hard for its support. A candidate and a campaign that wants to represent a broad and diverse group of people can TAKE NO ONE FOR GRANTED OR ASSUME THAT GROUP OR COMMUNITY IS WITH THEM. They have to earn those votes. We need to continue to communicate with our base – those who ARE registered to vote and ACTUALLY vote – with us on our issues. We have to have candidates and campaigns that are actually in relationship with communities and their leaders – this means showing up not just when someone ’s vote is needed, but when the needed in the community.
- This is the traditional electoral understanding of base – this is based on past performance, targeting, and the target of traditional base mobilization efforts.
- These are in tension. Elections are a very short timeline on very finite resources. It is about prioritizing and choosing where to invest those limited resources with the biggest payback in winning a vote. It is about numbers and mobilizing and quantity. Organizing is about quality, building lasting relationships, and expanding the electorate. The immediate payback is sometimes difficult to determine. BUT it has to be done. There is a tension between the two – as a campaign manager I know that. I want to talk about how we build basebuilding into campaigns and how basebuilding continues beyond the campaign to expand and enlarge the base for the next election.
- This is the typical basebuilding approach of an electoral campaign. Start with Personal base and work outwards as the election develops. Key leaders of base or supporting groups and party activists (leaders, officers, caucus attendees) Organization and party members – these are partisan identifying party members – “yellow dog” and members of endorsing organizations Primary voters are more general, but the segment to target is partisan primary voters (as opposed to swing voters) General election voters are IDed 1-5 with 1s being key support targets; 2s and 3s being key persuasion targets. Non-voters are those folks not yet in the electorate - -they are the target of voter registration and are the least likely to vote (and hence often have the least priority) – Note: this is part of the tension, because although this is true, the aim of this talk is to discuss how we can incorporate basebuilding into an electoral timeframe yet still be targeted.
- Here ’s the secret – if we do not do basebuilding beyond this immediate short-term electoral model, we will not win – our base will shrink and the circles will constrict.
- Given that all election plans involve a timeline, there are different types of activities that are most appropriate at various times.
- Basebuilding is still targeted! To help prioritize who to prioritize as far as outreach we can map the community as to the “players”
- These players (groups and people) can be located on a grid according to strength and support. Some of the criteria that can be used to analyze strength include: Strength Analysis Ability to deliver a vote Volunteers Access to lists/networks Resources ($, time, etc) Phones, buildings, etc.
- This map can become the basis for targeting which groups/leaders to prioritize with what kinds of actions/when.