Read on Twitter
1) @4st8 is always right about everything & especially this, and 2) I've been meaning to create a thread of examples of What Investing in Grounded Political Infrastructure Looks Like, & this is the shove I needed. Here goes! 1/~17,000 https://twitter.com/4st8/status/1340324792252174338
What do I mean by "grounded political infrastructure"? Infrastructure designed to be fueled by, make use of, & contribute to existng networks of connection. Because all organizing is reorganizing. & disconnected/dropped-in infrastructure won't be sustained https://scholars.org/contribution/local-political-parties-guide
I worked on 
w/ @daschloz @CarolineTervo @JakeMGrumbach @awh @adamsethlevine Tabatha Abu El-Haj & Joseph Anthony: if that doesn't persuade you to buy a copy [jk: it's free!] what will? Lots of suggestions will be relevant to orgs that aren't parties, too https://scholars.org/contribution/local-political-parties-guide
w/ @daschloz @CarolineTervo @JakeMGrumbach @awh @adamsethlevine Tabatha Abu El-Haj & Joseph Anthony: if that doesn't persuade you to buy a copy [jk: it's free!] what will? Lots of suggestions will be relevant to orgs that aren't parties, too https://scholars.org/contribution/local-political-parties-guide
Next up: I loved, loved this description from @EmmettSoldati (running for NH Dem party chair) of why handing out invitation to a local holiday party matters—even (especially?) in a year when the party can't be held in person https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/emmett-soldati-lesson-for-democrats-in-how-to-throw-a-party/article_b595bed4-0cc1-5203-a4ae-f0bd7ed30d65.html
@EmmettSoldati making the case that allowing cost-of-vote calculations to dictate voter outreach (or lack thereof) has been deadly for long-term party building in NH. THIS IS MY SONG LOUDER PLEASE https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/emmett-soldati-lesson-for-democrats-in-how-to-throw-a-party/article_b595bed4-0cc1-5203-a4ae-f0bd7ed30d65.html
When is the right time to start grounded, relational party-building? Literally now, whenever now is. In Orange County it started a decade ago: & so was better positioned to maximize the impact of new volunteers & energy when 2017 hit. Must-read account https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/12/07/orange-county-is-still-the-new-blue/
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/12/07/orange-county-is-still-the-new-blue/
In some places the county Dem party structure is either amenable or de facto abandoned: & in many such places post-2016 grassroots activists have stepped in & are turning it into a hub for relational organizing (hey we wrote a whole chapter about this!) https://global.oup.com/academic/product/upending-american-politics-9780190083533?cc=us&lang=en&#
But in some places, building within the party is not going to offer the right starting point. EVERYONE should read this account of the vision & strategy @WVCantWait has embraced in West Virginia https://forgeorganizing.org/article/radical-take-voter-turnout-rural-america
"WVCantWait recruited 397 Neighborhood Captains over about a month’s time; each took responsibility for corresponding with an assigned batch of one hundred voters in their county, a combination of Democrats and Independents, high & low frequency voters"
https://forgeorganizing.org/article/radical-take-voter-turnout-rural-america
https://forgeorganizing.org/article/radical-take-voter-turnout-rural-america
rang so real for me bc some of my favorite people work in constituent services for eg @SenWilliamsPA & I know how crucial this issue has been, esp from the start of the pandemic onward. Navigating government is HARD. Helping people do it is ethical & right: & good politics too
Among the many things I loved about this @fdwilkinson
piece on AOC and constituent services... https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-09/aoc-engages-in-old-fashioned-machine-politics
piece on AOC and constituent services... https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-09/aoc-engages-in-old-fashioned-machine-politics
... was it revealed that AOC & @eitanhersh 
embrace the identical Hand-Out-Some-Turkeys&Be-Useful theory of political change. BTW if by weird chance anyone reading this doesn't already own a dogeared post-it flagged copy of Eitan's book FIX THAT RIGHT NOW https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Politics-Is-for-Power/Eitan-Hersh/9781982116798
embrace the identical Hand-Out-Some-Turkeys&Be-Useful theory of political change. BTW if by weird chance anyone reading this doesn't already own a dogeared post-it flagged copy of Eitan's book FIX THAT RIGHT NOW https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Politics-Is-for-Power/Eitan-Hersh/9781982116798
