My observation has shown a lack of "middle management" in big political campaigns. Look at the "average" large campaign office, and you'll find a few senior people with major campaign experience, and large numbers of young political operatives willing to work for almost nothing in exchange for the experience (and maybe a small job in the big pale house).

Where campaigns break down as businesses is in their lack of much "middle management" to convert the big picture goals of the senior operatives and campaign managers into work packages for the younger, less experienced folks. These should be people who bring life experience to the table in subject areas, work areas, or as managers of organizations.

Where campaigns fail to find these people is by thinking that the experience they have has to come in campaigns. It does not. People skilled and experienced in their work but less experienced in political campaigning would make excellent middle managers of a campaign, particularly when combined with the motivation of working for the candidate they support. These may be people used to dealing with multi million dollar budgets and supervising hundreds, exactly the folks you need to keep an organization organized.

Any major campaign office (including HQ) should have three levels of "expertise":

1. Senior/Strategic/Direction - experienced in political campaign organizing at the state or national level
2. Midrange/Tactical/Management - very experienced in specific skill areas but only volunteer/limited campaign background, volunteer corps can be the "farm club" for this group
3. Junior/Implementation - the 20-somethings that want to make a career of politics, but don't have the life experience and need direction to go with their native intelligence and enthusiasm

By making use of the expertise of supporters in the middle management area of campaigns the campaign can fill the donut of organizational expertise with people "they couldn't afford" if they had to pay full price, and people who would normally be limited to stuffing envelopes or phone banking would be able to contribute their time to a campaign at reasonable pay and huge psychological payback both to the campaign and themselves.

Beyond Meetup

A campaign organization within a political party is a shadow organization, made up of those active in party politics between elections and many who are not. In 2004, the Dean for America campaign used Meetup as the structure for at least part of their shadow organization. Meetup worked for some things, but when, as Iowa and New Hampshire approached, we needed to move from a monthly meeting to active daily campaigning, in many places it broke down. We may want to replace the Meetup model with the idea of "Campaign Clubs" based on the idea of old Democratic clubs (or the Rotary or Lions). Instead of meeting monthly (although it could have monthly or weekly meetings) there would be ongoing activities, and perhaps in time even "clubhouses". Campaign Clubs would go beyond campaigning and politics to provide community and fraternity in the long haul.

This concludes why I have to say (for now) on organizing volunteer efforts to fight "The Next War", 2008. I hope someone or several someones will pick up the torch and bring some of these ideas into their campaign as the primary season begins for 2008 (that would be next Thursday, I believe). In the meantime, I'm going to go climb back outside my box and see what's floating around out there.