Heck even the DNC couldn't really pull off PartyBuilder to much great success and I don't thing much of anyone uses the DPVA software (seems to be identical to partybuilder just w/o a name).  Even then, to get more than a few people to an event you still had to do old fashioned organizing and pick up the phone.

But you do have very successful models such as DemocraticGain for finding employment as a Democratic Operative.  It has been nearly as important as the 50 state strategy in terms of creating a national party. Some kid in Georgia can see vacancies in Florida, Michigan, Hawaii.  People are no longer tied to their hometown connections, and conversly candidates get a wider pool to chose staff from (in theory creating better hiring choices).

So, how do you engage the activists?  I understand this is a different niche then either of the examples mentioned above, and there is a precedent in Virginia of self-organizing; such with the Webb Brigades.

The concept is brilliant. (and I'm not accusing you of anything here, this is an honest question) What's the plan and is it any good to get activists engaged?  If you only reach out to people on blogs, it will fail.  We need to go to committees, campaigns and Brigades meeting and bring them in, not simply fly the flag and wait for cavalry (which has been done before, not saying you are)

The purpose of YouRoots, first and foremost, is to facilitate the "hooking up" of volunteers with campaigns needing their skills. It is a means to an end.

We are actually about to engage in a pretty big campaign of campaign and volunteer contact. You're right that the blogs are a limited audience for YouRoots, and we don't intend to promote this just to the Netroots community. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to start with friendly folks!

I'm glad that you mention the DPVA website. YouRoots is meant partly as a supplement to that site. We are also about to engage the campaigns to start actively using the DPVA website for posting events. There's an excellent tool in the DPVA site for organizing and promoting events. It just lacks a critical mass, and we hope to help build it. And we hope that the combo of YouRoots and the DPVA site can create that critical mass.

Thanks for your comments!

http://www.huffingto...

nside the Obama campaign, an eclectic team of field organizers is attempting something that has long been considered impossible: building a precinct-level field organization large enough to affect the outcome of Super Tuesday (now February 5, or "Super Duper Tuesday"). If successful -- aided by email lists, web tools and old school organizing techniques long missing in electoral politics -- these organizers could rewrite the rules of presidential politics, dramatically raise the profile of field organizing in the campaign world and help rebuild Democratic party structure in states, such as California, that have been long forgotten to electoral field organizing.

The thing is, after February, the central operation goes away... then who's there?  There may be trained volunteers and organizers, and they'll cobble together their own efforts in support of Democrats for years to come, but where's the long term, protection and development of those networks?  Where's the cultivation of the local, personal, politics that can reclaim American government from the moneyed interests of conservatism?

It will be an institution like DEMPAC which will keep activists engaged, active, and well trained across the long expanses of time between election cycles.

Fortunately, in Virginia, there are elections every year.

Look at Obama's current model.  Uses the same software for my.barackobama as the DNC uses for PartyBuilder (created by Dean alumni at Blue State Digital) but Obama doesn't just leave it there, they use it!

At every IN PERSON training and organizing session they don't just say "have a house party" its.  Go on my.barackobama register your event.  CALL your guests and have them confirm online (and add another e-mail to the campaign listserv), then come back online and print up your sign-in sheets and literature.

The Tubes are just a communication tool like a phone or a mailer, by itself it does nothing; with a skilled organizer behind it, it can literally change the world.

Field Works, Field Wins (with caveats of course, but yes field wins). You can insert your own cheesy joke about "boots on the ground" or "the army you want" here.

The field program mentioned in the Huffington article noted above Obama Field Organizers Plot A Miracle, was used to great success in VA in 2005.  as an aside, this system historically evolved from the community organizing of Cesar Chavez and the UFW. In terms of the specific theories, and even some techniques, regarding how we enable and encourage a community to self organize.

The Dean team wanted prove once and for all that their NH system worked.  It was 2005 so it came down to either VA or NJ.  Robby Mook (NH Deputy Field Director for Dean) was hired to be Dave Marsden's campaign manager and the rest was history.  From day one "because we always do it that way" left his vocabulary.  I still remember the sign "no inertia allowed" on the door of the staff room in the office.  People called him crazy when he brought on a Field Director before a Finance Director in April for an HoD race. Many continued to think we were crazy because we talked to each voter in our universe three times (ID, Persuade, Confirm) before GOTV.

Eventually the field team flushed out in the last week of August and was running a mini, yet fully operational, statewide structure for our 14 precincts (4 regions, each with a desk and precinct teams reporting to each desk, 4 regionals to Field Director along with a Volunteer Coordinator to run the office and assist the organizers).

Karen Hicks was kind enough to personally hold three training session for our staff (which included a few first time staffers). Think about that, John Kerry's national Field Director training first time staffers, it was amazing.  They were determined to win, and win big.

From mid Aug through GOTV (last weekend before election day) we almost always achieved our goal of one canvass and one phone bank in each precinct, with specific voter and ID goals for each precinct.  Volunteers became invested at a level which they had never before been.  It was amazing having a volunteer say "hey, did we beat Orange precinct this week? NO?!? That's it, I'm finding an additional 2 volunteers for next week".

When you empower and inspire activists (much like YouRoots intends, it becomes a lot easier to find new activists)

For GOTV (Friday-EDay) we filled over 400 shifts (again with regional desks, boiler room at the cheap motel, full nine yards).  Yes it was a little absurd, any chance that it would hurt any Democrat? No.  So we (at this point everyone is invested, Staff, Volunteers, everyone) decided to win, and win big.  Coordinated gave us the reigns for the 41st for GOTV, and "the system" delivered.

End Result: Every Democrat, in every race, in every precinct won (well, Creigh lost one precinct by just a few votes)!! This includes precincts were DPI (Dem Performance Index) is in low 40's.  That means average candidate, with average campaign in an average year loses by 15+.

Thanks for the chance to reminisce but more importantly let's not forget the lessons learned.

full disclosure: I was a staffer on the Marsden race

Democrats will be stronger because of it and hopefully DEMPAC and YouRoots will be able to cement this into a permanent movement.