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Monday, April 13, 2009
Organizing for America's New State Director Begins New Mexico Listening Tour Tomorrow in Las Cruces
I got an email today from Luis Hernandez, who's the recently hired New Mexico State Director for Organizing for America -- President Barack Obama's nationwide organizing effort to involve the grassroots.
Luis announced that they're back on the ground in New Mexico, and starting this Tuesday, April 14th, they'll be hosting Listening Tour Town Halls across the state. You can learn more or sign up for one here. Events are scheduled for Las Cruces (tomorrow), Hobbs, Albuquerque Central and the North Valley, Valencia County, Farmington, Espanola and Santa Fe.
According to the email, you'll get a chance to meet new state staff members, hear about some lessons learned during the general election, and offer your thoughts on how New Mexico can be organized going forward. Your ideas will be used to write a New Mexico-specific plan for Organizing for America in 2009 and beyond.
The campaign brought an unprecedented number of new voices into the process. According to Luis, Organizing for America is dedicated to making sure those voices remain at the center of the debate as the President and Congress work on providing solutions for our economy.
But these meetings are not just for folks who were involved in the campaign -- they're hopeful that every New Mexican will get involved.
"We can't stop growing our movement now. We've never had a better opportunity to shape our future -- and just like during the election, we'll do it from the bottom up," Luis said.
If you can't make it to a Listening Tour event, you can still get involved with Organizing for America in New Mexico by letting them know how you'd like to see New Mexico organized: https://nm.barackobama.com/LTsurvey.
April 13, 2009 at 06:33 PM in Events, Obama Administration, Organizing for America | Permalink
Comments
Hope he gets around to Alamogordo and Roswell sometime soon.
I got an email informing me of the schedule. Replied, asked about Alamogordo. Got one of those worthless autoreplies. Let's hope for change.
Posted by: Ellen Wedum | Apr 14, 2009 7:31:47 AM
Who is Luis Hernandez? Is he from New Mexico? I guess I'll have to find out at the listening tour. If Luis is not from New Mexico I can't help to feel that Organizing for America and most statewide and federal campaigns perceive a lack of political talent in New Mexico. State Director sounds like an important leadership position in our community and it would be a shame if that wasn't held by a New Mexican and if the rest of the staff for Organizing America was populated with campaign hacks from Iowa, Nevada and Texas. Even the Romans understood the importance of recruiting locals to head up their provinces in order to service the maintenance of power.
Hail Obama!
Posted by: New Mexican Subject | Apr 14, 2009 9:31:08 AM
I think Obama's organization will eventually supplement the Democratic Party. The reference to Caesar by the above poster was eerie. Much like Caesar, Obama appears poised to create a movement, party, or religion based upon a cult of personality. I am sure I will be lambasted on this forum by the hordes of Kool Aid drinking, starry eyed Obamanites. After all, if you don't agree with us you must be against us, right? Sounds eerily reminiscent of "love it or leave it" to me or the post 9/11 fervor against Americans that questioned the Bush Doctrine.
Posted by: independent | Apr 14, 2009 9:55:08 AM
Why don't I hear anything about this Organizing for America group being willing to work for anything but Obama's agenda and political future? We need work at all levels for all Dem candidates not just for the president. Instead they install themselves in the Dem Party yet wall themselves off from the Party and its wider context. Bad news if you ask me.
Add the fact that they put in a sitting gov as the head of the DNC and there is an even bigger problem. Remember when the Democratic Party ran the Democratic Party?
Posted by: Question | Apr 14, 2009 10:10:58 AM
I am not quite sure of Obama's tactics here. It seems perfectly clear that much of the left over NM talent from the campaign is not going to be utilized or even given opportunity to get paid to work on the campaign, have absolutely no interest in local politics, and yet are still asking for money. This is a very important election cycle for NM and I think that the people who are begging at the door to be let in to OFA should start organizing to be involved in state level politics because it would be very powerful. I believe that Mr. Obama is doing a very good job as president but not such a good job as an organizer. New Mexico is a unique state that is culture rich and the people organizing it should be people who are submersed in it. Not transplants from Berkley
Posted by: blogblogger | Apr 14, 2009 12:15:46 PM
Organizing is organizing. If the Party is leading it, regardless of who is in charge, if there is one point person, it will still be a grassroots activity, if it is going to be successful.
For all of my complaints (and I have plenty), Barack seems to be a very good leader. I find him (and his family) entirely refreshing after the last terrible years--the worst ever. What a contrast!
Complaining is easy. Involvement is much more difficult. It means working together for common purpose, which often means compromise.
We can go on and on with how great we are as New Mexicans, with how great is our home-grown team and etc.
It seems to me that we have to get behind the wheel and push. Organizing is hard work. It needs to get done. I am pretty sure we will still be deciding what we will be pushing and where. All the top down ideas need support, and if our ideas have more support, then our ideas will have weight.
One man ain't gonna pull the wagon.
Posted by: bg | Apr 15, 2009 8:09:52 AM
I agree with bg. We need all the organizing we can get and we all need to get out there and help in whatever way we can for the party, candidates or Obama.
Posted by: Volunteer | Apr 15, 2009 10:02:10 AM
