Le Cawa d’AdmiNetRight now, grassroots organizers across the country are gearing up for tomorrow's Pledge Project Canvasses, the first large-scale effort to organize support for President Obama's economic plan since the election. Anyone who was on last night's conference call for the event hosts can tell you that there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation that many of us hadn't felt since last November. If you haven't already signed up for an event, there is still time to find a canvass in your area.
Our online Host Guide has all the resources you'll need, but here are a few key ones:
• Sign-in Sheets
• Pledge Project Pledges
• Canvassing Scripts
• Informational flyers on the issues - Energy, Health Care, and Education
• Tally Sheets
Also, our online Congressional Call Tool has been updated to allow you to instantly create printable fliers for people in your community who want to know how to contact their congressional representatives. Simply enter your address and click "print fliers" to create a one-page handout with all the necessary information. These fliers are a great resource, and anyone canvassing tomorrow should try to have plenty on hand.
Today's addition of the San Fransico Chronicler reports:
The Pledge Project Canvass is an unprecedented effort by a president to reach beyond Congress and tap grassroots supporters for help. Volunteers recruited online by Obama's Organizing for America, a post-election group, will ask citizens to sign a pledge in support of the president's policies on energy, health care and education.
Those who pledge will be asked for their e-mail addresses so the Obama-ites can keep in touch.
"This is just the beginning for us," said Jeremy Bird, deputy national director of Organizing for America, in an online video to Obama supporters this week. "The establishment in Washington won't welcome this new direction easily. We can't let this plan be debated solely behind closed doors in Washington, D.C."
Technology and political analysts marvel at the potential of Obama's attempt to transfer his successful campaign techniques - a melding of street-level community organizing and new media tools - to advance his policy agenda.
"What Obama is doing is a very new approach," said Lawrence Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.
That approach began during the campaign, when Obama tapped into an array of social networking tools on sites such as Facebook and Twitter to rally voters and raise funds. This weekend's effort is the next logical step, Bird said in an interview.
"This is taking that online social networking and moving it to offline social networking," he said.
Finally, here's one last look at the Pledge Project Canvass Training video for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. In addition to providing tips for the canvasses, the video highilghts a group of volunteers who recently did a test-run canvass in Virginia's 7th District:
As Organizing for America Deputy Director Jeremy Bird explained:
For anyone who questions why the President has offered this plan, these pledges will be the answer: because the American people demanded it.
The Pledge Canvass will also be the first step in growing our movement, and growing a nation-wide network to support our agenda for change. This is just the beginning for us. Throughout this year, we'll be organizing to bring an end to this economic crisis, and to build a solid foundation for America's economy. We'll be mobilizing people everywhere and holding our elected officials accountable until we see bold change: the change we need.
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