This month at the America Votes State Summit, I attended a panel about the 2026 Midterms, where there was some talk about “investments.”
All of the panel members were from organizations that exist to win elections. To be fair, the whole conference is about winning elections.
Several panel members talked about making “investments” in races and states. Hearing campaign people say “investment” usually makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
So, I raised my hand to ask a question. I didn’t have it together enough at the time to record the question, so I recreated the moment in this video.
The point of the question was to drill down on what they meant by “investment.”
Because we have very different definitions.
There was only time for one person to answer the question. A woman from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee had a good answer – for what her job is. She talked about getting a jump on opposition research and staffing up early in battleground states, which I was glad to hear. If there were some organizers on the panel, I bet the answers would have been different.
Take a listen to the video and tell me what your answer would be.
Are posts, emails and articles about AI flooding your devices? Me too.
I’m not opposed to AI; let’s say I’m cautiously optimistic.
AI is a lot like social media and fossil fuels.
All three are technologies that have the potential to change everything about how our world operates.
AI definitely as its place. It’s a little creepy, sure, but the potential is great. Just like social media and fossil fuels.
In both cases, the world discovered or developed a life-changing technology. Also in both cases, the potential to make money steam-rolled over any thoughts about guardrails or long-term effects.
Social Media and Fossil Fuels
Social media is a great way to connect, share information and learn new things. It’s also a great way to exploit vulnerabilities, spread lies and perpetuate injustices. With some regulation and consideration when it was in early development, we might have avoided (or at least mitigated) the teen mental health crisis, pervasive social isolation and rampant disinformation.
But those limits might also have limited profits.
Fossil fuels are so much more efficient that the fuels humans were using before their discovery. The discovery of oil deposits in the US opened up entire new industries and inventions. We built a thriving economy on oil-driven machines. Our world would not be the same without oil.
Also, as we know now, fossil fuels can destroy our atmosphere and perpetuate injustices.
But they’re oh so profitable.
AI has the same potential. The technology can exponentially improve accessibility, answer questions and share information. We can accomplish so much more with an assist from this emerging technology. It could be magic.
Or it could be a disaster. An all-consuming rush to incorporate it everywhere threatens our humanity.
People Over Profits
I don’t know the answer, but I know it involves regulation, popular education and leadership. Let’s start with the acknowledgement that profit is the priority.
Then reorder the priorities.
Let’s not let capitalism gone wild ruin a good thing. Again.
Oh and btw, can we please call AI “it,” and not she, he or they? Even if you give it a name.
Being in New Orleans last week reminded me that people take action because of values and emotion, not facts.
How much rain fell on New Orleans during Katrina?
What was the top wind speed?
How high was the flooding?
I don’t know either. I didn’t even know at the time.
But I know I sent money.
Last week, I passed under a highway overpass near the Superdome where stricken and terrified people tried to escape the flood waters.
I remembered the images of adults crying and not knowing where to turn. I remembered that idiot who was in charge of FEMA, ignoring the millions of people in crisis. I also remembered that even bigger idiot George Bush praising him. (We forget how terrible George Bush was.)
I don’t remember any of the facts, if I ever knew them to begin with.
The thousands of health care providers, first responders and other volunteers who came to New Orleans to help in the aftermath didn’t know any of the facts either.
They just knew that the disaster and their government’s shameful response offended their values and tugged at their heartstrings. So they bought plane tickets and jumped into cars.
What’s true for disaster response is also true for rallies, donating money, organizing meetings, contacting elected officials and voting.
People take action because of values and emotion, not facts.
Think about the last time you took action. What inspired you to go to that rally? Write a check? Vote? Volunteer?
When I posted this essay to LinkedIn, it generated more discussion than anything I’ve ever posted before. So, I’m reprinting it here to see what you think. Reply here or add your voice to the Comments on the LinkedIn Post.
It was a tough post to write because it’s about questioning a campaign tactic that we think is a fundamental truth – canvassing.
Maybe we’re wrong. Or maybe we’re not.
When I was having dinner witha campaign friend shortly after the election last year, we did what all of us did – a lot of sad staring off into the distance, what ifs and “if they had only . . . “
We also asked ourselves some hard questions.
He and I both are experts in field campaigns – the direct voter contact part of any political campaign. That’s door-to-door canvassing, phonebanks, peer-to-peer texting, crowd events, relational organizing.
We’re both pretty good at it. But we both failed last cycle.
Sure, there are lots of reasons. In my case, my clients drowned in a Republican wave. In my friend’s case, his main client struggled to raise adequate funds.
But it’s not just us.
We both know dozens of friends who dropped everything to knock on doors or make phone calls in swing states and districts.
And we see how that worked out.
So, I started asking “what if we’re wrong?” What if the answer to tough political campaign questions isn’t more and better canvassing?
I hardly want to say it out loud because what evokes an authentic campaign more than the image of a smiling volunteer at a voter’s door?
The truth is that we both know what wins political campaigns – relationships with voters.
Most Democrats aren’t investing in building relationships with voters. Many of the Democratic campaign institutions think that investment means starting the canvassing in August instead of September.
Investment means building relationships with voters who share our values, but maybe not positions on issues. It also means repairing relationships with voters who share our values and positions on issues, but feel taken for granted. Because we take them for granted.
It doesn’t mean throwing an army of canvassers at low-turnout neighborhoods at the last minute and thinking it makes up for broken relationships.
On the other hand, a lot of canvassers worked their butts off to successfully elect US House candidates like Derek Tran, Dave Min and Adam Gray. A good friend who knocked on thousands of those doors believes it was the canvassing operation that ultimately brought Tran over the finish line.
If you’ve been involved in campaigns or if you haven’t, I’m curious about your opinion – are we wrong about canvassing?
Hit reply or add your thoughts to the Comments on the LinkedIn post.
While we probably have some of the same downs, I wanted to close out the year by sharing some of the ups with you.
Here are some highlights of the year at Organizing to Win.
Rhonda Bolton’s first campaign for public office
Rhonda is a true leader, who breathes integrity, honesty and a get-it-done ethic. She brought together volunteers who had never set foot in a campaign before.
It was the first time I directed a combined field campaign for three candidates – Rhonda and her two running mates Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser. (Don’t let anyone tell you that three campaigns in one will be easier!)
Working with the SEIU Anti-Racist Crew for Transformation.
Union members have initiated an ambitious program to become an anti-racist organization. We kicked off the first stages of what will be a comprehensive and deliberate process throughout the 2 million-member organization.
Organizing Strategy with Virginia Interfaith Power & Light.
This year, we followed up on an organizing education and coaching series with a deeper dive into organizing strategy. In 2025, I look forward to continuing to work with organizers as they build power for climate justice in Virginia.
Design and facilitation of a day long Convening
With leaders of eight Nevada climate justice organizations. Our purpose was to start aligning on a legislative agenda for 2025 and to strengthen relationships within the coalition. It must have worked because the coalition coordinator told me last week about the four bills that have been introduced for the 2025 session – all of which were at the top of the consensus list of priorities at the Convening.
CMJ Collaborations.
Cat Shieh, Janedra Sykes and I facilitated our quarterly Disrupting White Supremacy Culture in Nonprofits workshop to packed screens. This year, we went deeper into the characteristics of white supremacy culture and added a quarterly livestream. (The next one is on Jan. 9, about Worship of the Written Word. Want more info? See Books. . . Articles. . . etc. recommendations below.)
Let’s reconnect in the new year.
I’d love to compare notes on our plans for 2025.
In the meantime, here’s the important call to action:
Enjoy the holidays.
Take some time to rest, renew and have fun.
I hope you have just enough family time to remember how special they are but not so much that you forget again.
Note: I wrote this post about a week before election day 2024. It hasn’t aged very well. I’m posting it anyway because it’s helpful to remember the optimism of July.
The most pessimistic, doom-and-gloom political watcher I know called me this week to say she thinks Kamala is going to win. By a lot.
Her call brightened up my day considerably. It reminded me of how I felt on July 21.
When Joe Biden dropped out in favor of Kamala Harris, I didn’t expect to be so . . .
Relieved. Happy. Excited.
Around Wednesday of the week before Biden dropped out, I knew it was coming.
I braced myself for the reality of a second Trump presidency.
If Biden stayed in, Trump would win. If he bowed out, the Democrats would descend into fighting and lose any chance of holding on to the White House. (Not to mention the Senate or flipping the House.)
Then it happened.
Immediately, some of my anxiety lifted. I didn’t think I would be this full of hope.
Like most people, I’m realistic about Harris’s chances of winning. There’s a lot of sexism and racism out there.
But there’s also hope. And action. And inspiration.
Suddenly, the people who make things happen – volunteers, activists, grassroots leaders, canvassers, social media amplifiers, phone bankers, relational organizers, texters, small dollar donors – are fired up!
Over 360,000 volunteers signed up for the Harris campaign in one week.
[Someone] for Harris groups sprang up all over the place.
Jewish Women for Harris
Black Women for Harris
Black Men for Harris
White Dudes for Harris (Don’t tell me you haven’t seen them!)
AAPI for Harris
Dads for Harris
Hotties for Harris (Seriously. It was on a sign at a rally.)
Since then, I’ve seen more calls to join organized teams of canvassers in Nevada and Arizona than I did in 2020.
It’s not too late to get in on the action. If you live in a swing state, contact your local Democratic Party or club. If you don’t live in a swing state, pick one and search for “volunteer for Democrats in [your favorite swing state].” Organizations will gladly put you to work making phone calls, sending texts or even knocking on doors if you’re nearby. Or go straight to https://kamalaharris.com/.
The first time I managed a field campaign was 1990, on a hopeless congressional race in Richmond, Virginia.
The tools have changed. The tech has changed. The messaging has changed. The science of campaigns has changed.
What hasn’t changed? The details.
To make sure volunteers have a good experience and we talk to lots of voters, here are a few of the steps that need to happen to ensure a good day of canvassing.
Identify the right neighborhood to canvas that day.
Find a meeting location in that area.
Create the assignments in the mobile canvassing app.
Text or call volunteers one-by-one to sign them up for shifts.
Draft an email to invite supporters.
Circulate the email for review.
Send the email.
Write a train-the-trainer for lead volunteers.
Create QR codes so volunteers can install the mobile canvassing app.
Print scripts, QR codes and a sign in sheet.
Ask businesses for donations of food for volunteers.
Ask the donors to complete the in-kind contribution form.
Send the form and receipts to the treasurer.
Confirm volunteers.
Assign turf to each canvasser or pair (Or help to create the pairs.)
Break campaign literature into stacks of 50 or 100
Set up sign-in, food, turf assignments, training and campaign literature.
Train new volunteers.
Debrief returning volunteers.
Clean up the meeting site.
Then there’s all the support and follow-up required to make sure everyone understands the system and can do their part. A.k.a. herding the cats.
Is this post already too long for you?
You’re getting the picture.
This is just the implementation. Never mind creating the strategy in the first place.
So, what’s the Call to Action here?
The hardest part of the whole operation is recruiting and scheduling volunteers. It’s also the most critical.
So, when that volunteer coordinator texts you about a shift, don’t leave them hanging! Reply and sign up for a canvassing, texting, phonebanking or yard sign delivery shift.
A while back, I was the organizing director for an organizing campaign with state employees in Colorado. It was a huge campaign, with about 30 organizers and 40,000 workers.
Part of leading the campaign was going with organizers during their house visits – knocking on doors of workers and asking to come in and talk about their work for a while. It’s the best way to have one-on-one conversations away from the prying ears and eyes of bosses.
House Visits
One day, I went with an organizer to the home of a maintenance crew chief in the Department of Corrections.
He came to the door in clothes covered with dirt, dirt on his face, wiping his hands on a rag. He explained that he and his wife were in the middle of digging up their basement to do their own repairs on the sewage or plumbing system.
The organizer starts the conversation by asking about the crew chief’s job. He talks about the crew he coordinates, emphasizing that as a manager, he’s paid a little more. He understood that the members of his team might be struggling more than he was. A union might be good for them.
The two continue to talk about the work, the institutions, his co-workers and more. The organizer did a great job of getting to know this man and his work. The organizer also described the organizing that other state employees were doing to come together to form a union.
Asking the Question
At the right moment, the organizer asks “will you sign a union authorization card and join your co-workers in forming a union?”
“Oh, no. I think the rest of the guys on my team probably need that more than I do,” he said.
The organizer points out that he seems to care a lot about the rest of the team. “What other solutions have you tried to support them?” Of course, nothing.
This conversation continues for a while. They talk about values, teamwork, having the right tools to do the job. Then the organizer asks again about signing a card to form a union.
“Oh no. I’m not that kind of person. I’ll just let the others do it,” he says.
Agitation
At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Really??? You don’t seem like the kind of person who lets others do the work for you. You’re digging up your own basement!!!” I said.
He looked at me for a few seconds, then said “You’re right. Give me the card.”
Sometimes it takes a little agitation for someone to take action.
As canvassing season heats up again, I’ve been thinking about how to keep canvassers safe.
From traffic.
From the heat.
From dogs.
Also from residents and police officers who haven’t read the memo that canvassing is first Amendment protected free speech. Especially if those canvassers are people of color.
Safety for canvassers means more than working in pairs and using crosswalks.
It also means protecting canvassers of color from harassment by residents and the cops.
If you are also thinking about ways to protect canvassers from this particular appearance of white supremacy culture, here are a few tips. They can help prepare your team for safe canvassing and deal with incidents if they happen anyway.
1. Talk to the cops before the first knock.
Shout-out here to Izzy Goodman who writes more about this step in this LinkedIn post.
2. Struggle with assignments.
On one hand, sending canvassers of color to all-white neighborhoods could be problematic for the canvassers. On the other hand, denying canvassers of color the opportunity to build their skills with these difficult voter conversations is pretty paternalistic.
Also, team leads and full-time organizers have to come from somewhere. Great leads and organizers grow their skills with difficult canvassing conversations.
If you’re the person who makes the turf assignments, it’s your job to struggle with the balance between protecting these canvassers’ safety and providing opportunities for growth.
3. When someone calls the cops anyway, listen to the canvasser.
Remember, it’s about the canvasser not you. Performative anger at the resident who dialed 911 or the cop who answered won’t make the canvasser feel any better.
4. Talk to the cops. Again.
Call the local precinct to report the incident. Spoiler alert: they will get defensive. However, it’s important to talk to them about it anyway. The cops have to know you’re watching. (Bonus tip: don’t identify the canvasser to the cops. Don’t make it worse.)
5. Report Back to Canvassers.
Relate the conversation with the cops and go back to step # 2.
With these steps – and probably others – you can keep your campaign on track and support the canvassers
A few weeks ago, my co-conspirators and I facilitated our quarterly workshop called “Disrupting White Supremacy Culture in Nonprofits.” It’s based on the Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture in Organizations, developed by Tema Okun.
Some of the comments we hear in the workshop and outside of it are:
Hard Questions
“Do you have to say white supremacy? Doesn’t that turn off some people?”
“How do we talk to people who aren’t comfortable with the words ‘white supremacy’?”
“You’re not concerned that people will walk out?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to say DEI or anti-racism?”
I love those questions because it gives me an opportunity to talk about the culture part of white supremacy culture.
When someone is uneasy with the terms, I start out by saying “No one thinks you have a confederate flag in the closet!”
The issue is the culture we’ve all internalized because it’s all around us.
The fault is not in being born in a place and time. The fault is in not questioning our socialization because it’s uncomfortable or might seem threatening.
Disrupting White Supremacy Culture in Campaigns
The workshop came to life when I started to wonder what I’d done in my campaigns that perpetuated, rather than disrupted white supremacy culture. I thought if I was asking these questions, other people might be thinking the same thing.
So I called a friend – a teacher and expert in anti-bias and anti-racism education who has designed ethnic studies curriculum – and said “Hey, do you want to do a conference workshop with me? Less about theory and intellectualism and more about everyday life.”
A New Workshop is Born
The initial Disrupting workshop was born.
Our third co-conspirator saw the recording of the workshop and said “Wow! They said it out loud.”
The three of us have been working together ever since.
We work with nonprofit organizations to create programs that disrupt white supremacy culture.
But TBH, we’re not for everyone. So, we created a workbook to help organizations (1) determine where they are in their own journeys to live up to their values statements and (2) find the best partner to do it.
