Organizing to bring people back into politics is not a cost, but an investment in rebuilding the democratic infrastructure of our public life under assault for far too many years. - Marshall Ganz, March 2007
One week ago today, over 30,000 people met in nearly 4,000 homes across the country to Unite For Change.
As field organizer Jennifer Scarbrough explained, these meetings are part of a field plan that has grown out of Barack's roots as a community organizer, and represent grassroots organizing at the most basic level: people talking to one another in their own living rooms, about the issues that are most important to them.
One by one, attendees shared their stories and their experiences, and talked about what inspired them to become active. They also watched a special video the campaign created just for these house meetings, about how ordinary people can organize to empower themselves to make political changes:
Last Saturday's meetings were not the end; they were just the beginning of an unprecedented effort to organize support in all 50 states this summer and build the network of volunteers that we'll need to win in November. The time, labor and money put into these events were not a cost, they were an investment in the future of this campaign and in the communities in which they were held.
One week later, you can see this investment paying off already, with nearly 2000 grassroots events planned for this 4th of July weekend alone.
For supporters across the country, the next step can mean joining or creating a local grassroots group, planning another house party, or helping with voter registration. In the weeks and months to come, we will have even more tools for you to organize and to act, to make a difference in your community and in this campaign for the presidency.
From the beginning, the goal of this campaign has been to bring people back into the political process, to give voice to the voiceless, and to inspire a new generation of citizens to organize, to engage, and to vote. From the beginning, this campaign has been an investment.
