Groundbreakers: How Obama's 2.2 Million Volunteers Transformed Campaigning in America

Much has been written about the historic nature of the Obama campaign. The multi-year, multi-billion dollar operation elected the nation's first black president, raised and spent more money than any other election effort in history, and built the most sophisticated voter targeting technology ever before used on a national campaign. But what is missing from these accounts is an understanding of how Obama for America organized its formidable army of 2.2 million volunteers -- over eight times the number of people who volunteered for democratic candidates in 2004. Unlike previous field campaigns that drew their power from staff, consultants, and paid canvassers, the Obama campaign's capacity came from unpaid local citizens who took responsibility for organizing their own neighborhoods months--and even years--in advance of election day. In so doing, Groundbreakers argues, the campaign enlisted citizens in the often unglamorous but necessary work of practicing democracy. How did they organize so many volunteers to produce so much valuable work for the campaign? This book describes how. Hahrie Han and Elizabeth McKenna argue that the legacy of Obama for America extends far beyond big data and micro targeting -- to a transformation of the traditional models of field campaigning. As the first book to analyze a presidential contest from the perspective of grassroots volunteers, Groundbreakers makes the case that the Obama ground game was revolutionary in two regards not captured in previous accounts. First, the campaign piloted and scaled an alternative model of field campaigning that built the power of a community at the same time that it organized it. Second, the Obama campaign changed the individuals who were a part of it, turning them into leaders. Obama the candidate might have inspired volunteers to join the campaign, but it was the fulfilling relationships volunteers had with other people and their deep belief that their work mattered that kept them active. Moreover, the lessons learned from the Obama campaign have and will continue to transform the nature of future campaigns, in both political and civic movements, nationally and internationally. Groundbreakers proves that presidential campaigns are still about more than clicks, big data and money, and that one of the most important ways that a campaign develops its capacity is by investing in its human resources.

Table of Contents:
Chapter One: Introduction Part I: The Historical Roots of the Obama Field Program Chapter Two: The Way Things Were Chapter Three: Discovery and Diffusion Part II: The Nuts and Bolts of the Ground Game Chapter Four: Building Depth By Investing in Relationships Chapter Five: Creating a Structure to Share Responsibility: Neighborhood Teams Chapter Six: Using Metrics to Get to Scale Part III: OFA's Legacy Chapter Seven: Reflection Works Cited Index

About the Author :
Elizabeth McKenna is a Ph.D. student in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Hahrie Han is Associate Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. Jeremy Bird served as the National Field Director for Obama for America and is a founding partner at political consulting firm 270 Strategies.

Review :
"Amid all the hype about 'big data' and analytics in Obama's presidential campaigns, one key story hasn't been told in full: how the Obama team built a sprawling and vibrant field organization almost entirely out of volunteer labor. Han and McKenna recount the successes and struggles of this effort, drawing on extensive and illuminating interviews with everyone from senior staff to many of those volunteers. Their account shows how a winning campaign depends as much on old-fashioned shoe leather as on statistical models and multi-million dollar advertising sprees. This is a book that both scholars and practitioners of campaigns should read." --John Sides, author of The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election "Groundbreakers is thus an excellent introduction to the practice of organizing, which is an extremely underappreciated facet of American politics...If we are ever going to have a more active and representative political culture, political actors and ordinary citizens alike will have to start taking some cues from Groundbreakers." -- Boston Review "All students of campaigns should read this book. Highly recommended." -- CHOICE "A rich and highly readable story about a campaign that made history, not only in terms of whom it elected but also how it did it... At its core, this book shows readers that 'democracy can work when people are given power." --Perspectives on Politics