Listen up, Sanders folk [View all]

[Capn Sunshine]

I'm only going to post this once. You have to run with it. I'm very sympathetic to the Sanders Message. I agree with all of it. But the way the campaign is going, it's going to fizzle out because while everyone is enthusiastically building the biggest damn pile of wood for a bonfire ever seen, no one remembers to bring matches.

Meaning what? If you guys lose this is won't be a conspiracy. It's because no one in the Sanders Campaign knows jack about on ground organizing. They've got PDA doing most of the basic stuff now that should have happened months ago. So here it is, from a long time political organizer who worked for Bobby, McGovern, every Democratic campaign since, and Howard Dean. And of course a successful campaign for the President. Two in fact. We learned from the big mistake we made in the Dean Campaign. Money is great, we created a fund raising machine that is a modern model for political fundraising today. But we didn't know jack about how to translate the converts into people who would cast a vote, or caucus. We made a fatal mistake in Iowa of not knowing the caucus system.

Are you in a caucus state? Watch this.

If you've never been to a meeting of the local Democratic Club in your town, go now. ASAP. You need to know these people. They control the process. The genesis of the entire Democratic Primary starts with the clubs. You don't want to be meeting them for the first time on primary night.

Are you in a regular election style state? You're one of the lucky ones IMO. But it still starts with the Democratic Clubs. Many of them have compiled , together with Dem -friendly Unions like the SEIU, lists and contact info of registered Democrats. Some may share. But you won't know unless you ask. You still have a huge job, you have to convert the enthusiasm in the crowds to actual registered Democratic Voters. Voters who then commit to voting on election day. You might even have to start at square one and circulate petitions to get Bernie's name on the Primary Ballot. Don't think this happens by magic.

Either way, you need to attend these rallies with registration forms, and get their contact info. This is vitally important. You then have to phone bank, to follow up with these people, to secure a commitment from them they will vote. Election day, you have to Get Out The Vote. You have to have methodical organized groups that cover each neighborhood to assure maximum turnout. Be ready to assist older folks to get to the polls, to give rides. You have to keep doing this until voting ends.

I can't emphasize enough how this all starts with the Democratic Clubs. Get offline and into the real world and go.

OK. Now that you're aware, you have no excuse if Hillary's machine cleans your clock on election day. You have to be prepared to work just as hard, and above all , recognize these are committed Democrats, just like you. They just don't think Bernie Sanders can beat Jeb Bush in a general election.

Peace out.