Bill Lofty’s Politics the Wellstone Way incorporates many strategic techniques and values that are necessary for political candidates and activist to advance their progressive agenda. The book is based on the model that former Senator Paul Wellstone developed and implemented throughout his career. The nature of this book was intended for individuals “who want to work on an electoral campaign as staff member or volunteer, those who want to work on an issue-based campaign or organizing drive, and those who want to run for office themselves.”(11) Although Battle Born Progress wasn’t necessarily a campaign, it certainly employed many elements of a campaign by promoting progressive change in Nevada. Additionally, Lofty analyzes three main components
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Wellstone, for example, was able to turn his strong supporters into dedicated volunteers, activists, and even leaders of his campaign. This bottom up approach allows a campaign to be more personable with individuals in their community and relay the candidates or organizations message to people in his or her community. Lofty argues that “direct voter contact is the most effective way to win a campaign.”(85) As a consequence, gathering data on voters to determine the amount of votes that are needed to win a campaign is critical to the success model. Demographics also play a key role in terms of using certain characteristics about an individual to determine the likelihood of them voting for your political party. For example, African Americans and women typically vote Democratic and therefore it would be imperative for a progressive campaign to target those specific individuals. In order for field organizing to be successful, you need to have sufficient amount of money and resources to finance the campaign. Fundraisers are excellent in raising money for the campaign as well as building strong relationships with donors. At my internship with Battle Born Progress, I often helped our development assistant with setting up and promoting fundraisers for Battle Born Progress. This allowed Battle Born Progress to continue operating efficiently by convincing donors that their donations would be spent accordingly. Additionally, recruiting volunteers is imperative to maintain a strong base of your core supporters. Lofty argues that field organizing requires campaign officials to recruit high quality volunteers in order to implement their message effectively. Furthermore, one of the ways a successful campaign is able to allocate appropriate resources is through budgeting. Since running a campaign is expensive, budgeting is critical to making sure that resources are implemented with the highest degree of quality
Wellstone, for example, was able to turn his strong supporters into dedicated volunteers, activists, and even leaders of his campaign. This bottom up approach allows a campaign to be more personable with individuals in their community and relay the candidates or organizations message to people in his or her community. Lofty argues that “direct voter contact is the most effective way to win a campaign.”(85) As a consequence, gathering data on voters to determine the amount of votes that are needed to win a campaign is critical to the success model. Demographics also play a key role in terms of using certain characteristics about an individual to determine the likelihood of them voting for your political party. For example, African Americans and women typically vote Democratic and therefore it would be imperative for a progressive campaign to target those specific individuals. In order for field organizing to be successful, you need to have sufficient amount of money and resources to finance the campaign. Fundraisers are excellent in raising money for the campaign as well as building strong relationships with donors. At my internship with Battle Born Progress, I often helped our development assistant with setting up and promoting fundraisers for Battle Born Progress. This allowed Battle Born Progress to continue operating efficiently by convincing donors that their donations would be spent accordingly. Additionally, recruiting volunteers is imperative to maintain a strong base of your core supporters. Lofty argues that field organizing requires campaign officials to recruit high quality volunteers in order to implement their message effectively. Furthermore, one of the ways a successful campaign is able to allocate appropriate resources is through budgeting. Since running a campaign is expensive, budgeting is critical to making sure that resources are implemented with the highest degree of quality