Dear Party Builder Friends:

Following is a recommendation that I just sent to Marshall Ganz, Brent Messenger, Buffy Wicks, and Pat DeTemple, who are central to Obama's national organizing strategy.

If you believe that this proposal merits consideration and are in contact with any of these individuals or anyone else in the national office who might be interested, please let them know what you think. Your communications might help bring this message to their attention.

Also, please feel free to send this email to others who might be interested, especially people who are known and trusted by folks in the national office.

Thanks,
Wade

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Proposed: Regular House Meetings

Members of the Obama Movement need to solidify relationships now while the iron is hot. By forming small teams that meet at least once a month in one of their homes to share a meal, decide how to work together to help elect Barack Obama and other Democrats on November 4, and agree to continue meeting after the election to promote the common good in other ways, we could grow supportive friendships that could sustain us over the long haul.

In the DVD that the national office distributed to the hosts of the June 28 Unite for Change events, Barack Obama said, "Whatever organizing that we do outlasts the particular political campaign. It means that you now have a set of relationships and networks that have been built and hopefully those people will feel empowered then to work on other campaigns and other efforts to improve the lives of the community."

If the national office suggest that supporters form home-based teams with 5-15 persons who work together prior to the election, these individuals will more likely stay together after the election.

The June 28 Unite for Change events and the plan for platform meetings in July indicate the strength of the Obama organizing strategy. The national office provides some simple guidelines and leaves the organizing to the grassroots. No paid staff on hand. No highly trained facilitators. Just some soft-touch leadership and lots of trust in ordinary people to take it from there.

In recent months, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the Democratic Party's primary election process. During the course of these activities, they met fellow activists and added some of them to their network of friends and acquaintances.

The national office could suggest to these individuals that they invite people they know to participate in a home-based team as described above. A priority could be assigned to people who live in the same neighborhood. Teams that want to do so could create an event on my.barackobama.com and PartyBuilder and invite others to meet with them.

Once a team has 12 or so members, it might consider sub-dividing into two teams with members who live more closely together. This process could continue until all members live in the same neighborhood, or precinct (or even on the same block or in the same building!).

Or teams could decide not to sub-divide but rather stay together as a primary unit, in which case some members might help form another team and participate in it as well.

The national office could post on its website suggestions concerning how to form home-based teams and conduct meetings.

In this way, we could build an infrastructure that can help transform America day by day.