Today was the first day of Camp Obama in New York. I only have limited time to write a little wrapup now because there was no internet access at the school, as planned. Sorry this couldn't be more in depth or interactive. I'm on a short schedule so I'll get to the highlights.
First we met Ray Rivera, the Northeast Coordinator for community organization, who seems to be running the camp. Then we met Temo, the national coordinator. We had a brief speech from Councilman Sanders of Queens who is an elected Barack supporter (they are rare in NY, at least officially). Then we heard from Paul Skully, who was the main "teacher", so to speak, for today and tomorrow til 3pm.
details below the jump
Paul spoke about community organizing, Barack's experience, and how it fits into his campaign. He drew a sharp contrast to the Dean campaign, which had a lot of energy, and the backing of the netroots, but was lacking in actual boots on the ground. Barack is investing in his supporters and creating a network of people that are trained in community organizing techniques, and are given specific tasks and goals that we are expected to complete. We will be held accountable for those goals, and will be expected to fulfill them. As a result, we're creating a dependable army of organizers who are held to concrete standards.
The main point that they stressed is this community organizing focus. The people who worked for Dean (who consequently mostly work for Edwards now) didn't have a large enough community outreach organization, one that was truly organized and accountable. We are building that campaign.
I'll be writing more, and more in depth, tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, sorry I won't be around to answer your comments...