September 3rd's little snark fest given by the GOP was interesting in what was said certainly. A lot of anger, a lot of insults, and certainly the speakers said things that were directed at Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
So, in that point, one wonders just why Sara Palin had so much to say about the idea and the actual work of "community organizers"?
Well, sorry friends, but it wasn't about your local pastor or library getting together to gain a few funds for the food pantry or addition to the library's computer room.
It was about... well... Democrats.
As it has been put forward (and as I understand it), Markos Mousalitas created the Daily Kos site to work in tandem with Howard Dean's efforts to realign the Democratic Party towards the 'fifty state strategy'.
In this strategy, volunteers come together with the leadership and campaign personell in the local, state, and, national parties to coordinate an effective tactical move to talk to the people of the United States and convince them that the Democratic Party can and will work for the people in all fronts.
There are weaknesses to this of course, but the work puts people directly on the ground going door to door speaking of a given candidates work. It can be hot, it can be cold, it can be boring, and it can be fun.
It's also organizing a given community to fight against the Republican party. And it's a strategy that works by going out into the community either by phone, by car, by flyer, or by shoe.
Most of all, it's not just about getting people to vote for the candidates you're organizing the community for, it's about organizing the community to vote, period. Now, here's the rub.
In the GOP strategy, a primary tactic of their version of reaching the community is to tackle them in crowds. This is where the churches came into play. But when you have thousands of people across the country calling into private homes and businesses to talk with the voters themselves you're one on one and have a better chance to convince people than you do if you're pushing on them as a crowd.
Mob dynamics only goes so far.
And it's organized by a community. A fifty-state community of volunteers who believe that Dean's, and now Obama's strategy is the best way to get to the people, one person at a time, one community at a time.
This is the attack. It's not about community organizations or organizers... it's definitely about the Fifty-State Strategy.
Don't under estimate this attack.