Obama's art of grassroots political war

[Leo 9]

Obama's art of grassroots political war

5:00AM Thursday January 10, 2008
By Leonard Doyle



Barack Obama's ability to move seamlessly from one role to another has made him popular with many Democrats. Photo / Reuters


When the historians come to write about this election they will have to put aside their reference materials and start over, because the Barack Obama surge has taken everyone by surprise, not least that master political strategist Bill Clinton.

It is a movement that has generated for the Illinois senator early electoral momentum in the presidential race.

Obama's soaring rhetoric is one factor that conveyed his messages of "change" and "hope".

But critical to his momentum has been a set of effective campaigning skills he honed on Chicago's South Side where he first started out, knocking on doors as a community organiser at the age of 24.

Long before seeking elected office, Obama steeped himself in the ways of street agitation and local empowerment and became a master of grassroots organisation.

snip

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10486040