Campaign Gadgets Aren’t Enough

What political parties should be doing these days.

I wrote this piece on my own blog, The Social Fundraiser. It’s a preview of a longer piece I’m working on for a larger publication. I’m a big admirer of what President Obama’s campaign leadership accomplished in two elections, and the piece is aimed at what I see as immensely obtuse attempts by the Republicans to imitate what they built.

I share it here because Humane Pursuits is a site, not so much for the discussion of policy, but for the discussion of culture and how to build (or rebuild) it. While I think campaign managers should be thinking very differently for pragmatic reasons, I’m equally convinced that if they do, it will be of tremendous civic and social benefit.

The heart of my argument:

“If Republicans want to not only win that big election, but build a long-term civic infrastructure for influencing citizens, developing leaders, winning many elections, and oh by the way, actually accomplishing something conservative in Washington, involvement has to provide practical and emotional satisfaction. It has to have visible norms to people can see that “people like me” do this. The GOP should focus on making membership in their cause something social, something local, something tangible.”

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