Political movements that succeed all share eight traits. Those movements, and even ones that come close to succeeding, always assemble public voices that have 1) reach and 2) staying power. These movements also know how to build and grow partnerships and alliances. Five other things are required, but if the movement's leading voices don't have reach and staying power, their opponents and the wider population know that the movement will fade. Without building a public voice that everyone hears, a voice that everyone knows they will keep hearing, opponents know they will soon be able to ignore the movement. Without continuing to build partnerships for activism, any movement will lose energy and fail.#
That's part of Obama's failure -- after shutting down his campaign website and suggesting to the millions who stirred themselves to elect him, his inside-the-Beltway opponents knew that they could continue to play the old games in Washington, ignoring the now hibernating movement that brought Obama into the White House. Obama's team stripped away three of the eight essential movement traits that got them elected: growing partnerships of citizens with voices of real reach and staying power. Republicans in Washington went forward knowing that they could ignore those millions of now-silent, now isolated Obama-supporting Americans between elections, which is their preference anyway. The powerful love the silence and isolation of others.#
Political movements that succeed all share eight traits. Those movements, and even ones that come close to succeeding, always assemble public voices that have 1) reach and 2) staying power. These movements also know how to build and grow partnerships and alliances. Five other things are required, but if the movement's leading voices don't have reach and staying power, their opponents and the wider population know that the movement will fade. Without building a public voice that everyone hears, a voice that everyone knows they will keep hearing, opponents know they will soon be able to ignore the movement. Without continuing to build partnerships for activism, any movement will lose energy and fail.#
That's part of Obama's failure -- after shutting down his campaign website and suggesting to the millions who stirred themselves to elect him, his inside-the-Beltway opponents knew that they could continue to play the old games in Washington, ignoring the now hibernating movement that brought Obama into the White House. Obama's team stripped away three of the eight essential movement traits that got them elected: growing partnerships of citizens with voices of real reach and staying power. Republicans in Washington went forward knowing that they could ignore those millions of now-silent, now isolated Obama-supporting Americans between elections, which is their preference anyway. The powerful love the silence and isolation of others.#