The Lessons of the Minnesota Kucinich campaign

[Lydia Leftcoast]

We had a candidate who has been ignored by the mainstream media, who doesn't look like the public's idea of a president, and who is constantly being dissed by the establishment as "too far left." Yet we won 17% statewide, much better than any other state on Super Tuesday, and Dennis actually won or tied or nearly tied several precincts.

How did this happen?

1. First of all, we had a large number of utterly dedicated volunteers. I was only a minor player in the campaign, but the dedication of some of the major players was astounding. We got very little money from the national campaign--enough for office rental and some reimbursement of expenses--and almost everything was done on a volunteer basis.

We had volunteers who somehow seemed to make it to every public event in town to hand out flyers. We had people bannering over the busiest freeway intersection in the Twin Cities. We had people leafletting and phoning in every neighborhood and using their own cell phone minutes to call other parts of the state and other states. Many of us made one or more trips to Iowa and sharpened our skills there. We showed up at every progressive, environmental, ethnic, labor, or other event with fliers. In the days leading up to the caucus, people did visibility work. We had mass mailing parties. Musicians and other people with show biz and broadcast experience donated their time and talent. We just plain talked to people. We outdid every other Super Tuesday state with almost no money.

2. We forced the media to pay attention. After Dennis' first visit in August (attracting an audience of 800 by word of mouth) got no media coverage at all, we nagged the local media before his October appearance and ended up with a front page story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. After his February 21 visit, the Star-Tribune article was written to imply that Edwards had spoken to 2,000 and Kucinich had spoken to only 100.

Well, we didn't let them hear the end of that. On Sunday 2/29, their ombudsman admitted that the coverage had been misleading, and as an extra treat, the Op-Ex section featured a front-page interview with Dennis. On Monday, a reader's opinion piece urged people to vote for Dennis.
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We would have liked higher percentages, of course, but we are proud of that fact that we broke 15% in every precinct in Minneapolis and St. Paul and in several others around the state.

So why am I telling you all this?

I think it has relevance for the November campaign.

I've seen a lot of DUers moaning and groaning about how we'll never overcome Bushboy's $200 million advantage. They may be right--if we play by the typical DNC rules of campaigning by TV ad.

Last night I saw 246 people pack a caucus that had been attended by only 43 people in 2002. As I walked my precinct on Monday, leafletting houses and talking to the people I encountered, I found an overwhelming desire to get rid of Bush.

The November election effort needs to be a grassroots effort. In my precinct, I'm confident that we could find at least one person per block who would be willing to identify solid Democrats and potential Democratic voters on his or her block and make sure that they get their bodies to the polls in November.

Even though Bush is bragging about winning Minnesota, I bet that if the DFL got every potential DFL voter in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the inner suburbs into the polls and made similar efforts to identify and woo potential voters elsewhere, the Republicans wouldn't stand a chance. We can outnumber them. I heard from a social worker a couple of weeks ago that all the immigrant groups are running voter education projects, because they're angry at the Republican governor and legislature.

It doesn't cost much to give people campaign materials and sic them on their neighbors. People will naturally know how to appeal to their own neighbors.

Maybe this would empower the voters too much to suit the DNC and DLC, but if they want to win against a $200 million war chest, they have no other choice.

[bluestateguy]

1. Good work

Well done. We look forward to carrying Minnesota this fall because of dedicated individuals like you.

[RichM]

2. Wasn't a lot of the MN success attributable to the caucus system, aside

from all the great work you guys obviously did?

Last night, I was at the East Bay DK campaign party, & was talking to the guy who would have been our first male Kucinich delegate, had Dennis won another 1.5% of the vote in our congressional district. He used to live in Minnesota, where he worked on several Wellstone campaigns. He said the fact that Dennis did so well there was partly a direct result of there being caucuses rather than straight & simple primary voting. I think his idea was that caucuses take much more time, so only more-motivated voters take part; and there's more discussion involved, & thus room for persuading others to change their positions.

And Hawaii & Maine - Dennis' other big successes - were also caucuses, right?

[goodhue]

6. perhaps

Certainly it is often easier for a progressive candidate to perform better at caucuses than a primary, because the more devoted caucus goers are generally more progressive.

But in this case, many, many Kucinich supporters were first-time caucus goers, which is due entirely to hard work of volunteers.

Also, please realize that although MN still calls it a caucus, in fact there was a binding presidential preference ballot last night. This was relatively new. So it really operated as a binding ballot vote within a caucus and a parallel process of delegate selection. I have yet to hear of any need for a walking subcaucus to select delegates last night.

The fact that the ballot is binding for the first time should make the rest of the Minnesota process interesting. As I understand it, there will be no realigning as in the past. I remain puzzled about all the Dean folks who went to Edwards, particularly when his likely departure was reported by the Boston Globe as early as mid-morning. These folks were not by and large new caucus goers, and I hope they are not living in the past. The fact that the ballot is binding was not explained at my caucus and seems to be lost on a good number of DFLers.

[Nobody]

9. In my precinct in MN

Our caucus chair focused on the business of the meeting, meeting the candidates for our open state legislature seat and resolutions. The straw vote on the presidential nomination seemed almost like an afterthought.

At 8PM, the results were announced. None of the votes are binding. This was explained at the beginning. I voted for Kucinich and I'm also an uncontested delegate (means they got just enough people to volunteer for the position). I can vote for Kucinich or I can change my mind at any time. There was no wandering around trying to persuade people to vote for your candidate at all. We talked among ourselves, but we had a ton of resolutions to go through. No apathy in my precinct. Not with 128 people showing up AND staying for the whole thing.

[goodhue]

11. you personally can change your mind BUT

The results of the presidential preference ballot is binding in that it determines the proportion of delegates that will be sent to state convention and beyond. This is new and is not understood by many, including precinct chairs. It was not in fact a mere straw poll as in years past.

See
http://www.dfl.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={1F40B529-D0E3-4AD5-A3E4-98B881ACB94D}
or
http://www.minnesotaforkucinich.com/caucus.php

from MN for Kucinich caucus Q & A:

Each attendee may cast a vote for the Democratic presidential candidate they prefer by filling out and signing a presidential preference ballot. The ballots are then tallied, and the proportion of votes received by each candidate determines how many delegates to the national convention that candidate receives from Minnesota. NOTE: THIS IS A DIFFERENT PROCEDURE THAN HAS BEEN USED IN THE PAST. Essentially, this is Minnesota's primary election, and the polling place is the precinct caucus location.

The 72 pledged delegates are divided among the different presidential candidates according to the results of the presidential preference ballot from the precinct caucuses. For example, if Dennis Kucinich got 40% of the votes in Congressional District 5, he should get about 40% of the delegates from that district. Since Congressional District 5 is allotted 8 delegates, Kucinich would get at least 3 of those delegates.

There is one important exception to the allotment of delegates. A candidate must get at least 15% of the vote in the Congressional district in order to get ANY percentage of the delegates from that Congressional district. The candidate must also get 15% of the vote in the whole state in order to get ANY of the delegates selected at the state level. If a candidate receives 14.9% of the vote, he or she gets no delegates. For this reason, it is vital that enough Kucinich supporters attend precinct caucuses to make the 15% threshold.

[northernsoul]

3. not a DK guy, but it does say something

about hard work, dedication, and grassroots organizing

good for you guys!

We're gonna make B*sh regret ever setting foot in our state and we're gonna take back the legislature this fall to boot!

[goodhue]

4. bravo!

Thanks for the excellent report and analysis. Your lessons are right on the money. The DFL had huge numbers turn out yesterday and would be well-advised to adopt that block-captain concept you suggest. Minnesotans for Kucinich worked hard for that 17% and there are lessons to be learned. The courage and energy of Minnesota volunteers cannot be overemphasized. Looking forward to senate district convention, then state convention in Duluth and onto Boston!

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Love that DKer spirit! :)

And you are right, it's all about the grassroots in this campaign against $hrub.

[goodhue]

7. kick for MN4DK

[no name no slogan]

8. Excellent post Lydia!

As one of those who dedicated lots of my time, talents and money to the Minnesota campaign, I think we all deserve a pat on the back for our spectacular efforts.

Kerry and Edwards had all the party regulars behind them, while DK had the dedication of hundreds of volunteers, who spread his message with our footwork, phone calls, house parties and numerous fundraisers.

The best part is that many of us DK folk are now on track for leadership positions in the DFL party. Many of us are now serving on committees, or elected as precinct chair/co-chair. We will continue to make our voices heard in any way we can and will revitalize this party, which has fallen quite far in the last decade.

I myself will NOT give up until Boston. Kerry still needs 999 delegates for a first ballot nomination.

But after Boston, I will continue to promote progressive Democrats who are NOT AFRAID to act like Democrats, and will stand up for the people of this state, not just the corporations.

Yesterday was not an ending-- it was the start of something HUGE.

:hi:

[scarletwoman]

10. Myself, my two sisters, and my niece will all be delegates to the county

convention. I've already been active in the local party unit for the last 2 years, and have an excellent chance of becoming a delegate to the state convention.

We have several other Kucitizens who are long-time party activists in our county, and one of the 5 Minnesota Kucinich delegates will be coming from our area. (he got 15% in our CD) :bounce:

This is Wellstone country, we are PROUD progressive Democrats!

sw

[IrateCitizen]

12. BOOKMARKED to pull out repeatedly during the campaign

This is an excellent observation of yours, Lydia. Not only is a grassroots campaign effective -- as you have shown -- but it also helps to significantly diffuse the loci of power throughout the citizenry rather than further centralize it among the elites.

Look at it this way -- if Kerry is propelled to victory on significant grassroots support, then he has to pay attention to that support after getting in office. Why can't he just walk away from it? Because he's a politician, and his primary concern is keeping a job -- and if he knows that if it weren't for the grassroots he wouldn't HAVE a job -- then he'll pay attention to them if he's at all savvy.

You don't get to be a US Senator without a certain degree of political savvy.

When I read posts like this, it truly does give me hope not just for getting Bush out in the next election, but for the possibility of actually furthering the progress of society toward a better future.

Thanks for adding a little bit of sunshine to what, to this point, was a rather depressing day for me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. Thanks, IC!

Unlike some of the other people in this thread, I'm only an alternate, since I was out helping count ballots during the local delegate selection process.

I volunteered as a teller because one of the DFL stalwart types was telling people that they shouldn't bother voting for anyone but Kerry or Edwards because votes for other candidates "wouldn't count" for national delegate selection. I wanted to make sure that every vote for Dennis was actually counted, and having tallied ballots with three other people, I'm satisfied that the figures were accurate--DK got 21% of my precinct.

[goodhue]

14. kick