Blown Away / 3 ways this campaign is different

WoW! That's all I can say. This was an Obama night for me (2 meetings and a conference call) and I came away so very impressed.

As I get more connected with the Obama operation here, the mybarackobama.com web site, and the delegate minders in Chicago, I am awed by the genuine differences I see between this and any other campaign I've encountered.

I see 3 ways the Obama campaign represents a new politics:

1. The most immediate difference is in tone. Other campaigns have been largely composed of cocky, self=important young snips. (Yep. Showing my age). Everyone, and I mean everyone I've run into in the Obama campaign has been polite, respectful, and listens (or at least appears to). They all seem to have been though Community Organizing 101 training and have absorbed it well.

2. The second difference is in the commitment to collaboration. The county party stalwarts were sitting in disbelief to hear that the Obama team will be merging with the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP)(and possibly the Perdue {Gov} and Hagan {Senate} campaigns as well) to form a new group -- something like the "Campaign for Change -- a project of the NCDP". One noted that in 2004 the Kerry-Edwards folks were in the same building and never even talked to us. And from what I've learned their support extends down ticket as well -- even to the soil and water conservation candidates. How refreshing!

3. The third difference is vision. Obama's approach seems to be focused not just on winning, but on building a constituency for governing. He won't be able to make headway against the special interests unless he has the bulk of the American people squarely behind him. So, his focus is not just on getting folks to contribute to the campaign financially and with their time and energy; he also wants them to feel a sense of ownership of the future -- with him and with each other. This is for the long term.

It's a 'bottom-up' strategy that people like me who have worked on the ground in low and modest income communities can fully appreciate. The whole approach is smart, inclusive, participatory, and focuses on action, rather than talk. And people who have been burned out by politics in the past, are now ready to make a difference.

At the risk of seeming too gushy, this is the politics of my dreams