Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) and 21st Century Democrats sponsored a day long field organizer training at the Uptown Theatre for Kansas City area political activists.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) addresses participants before the first morning session.

…Founded to give progressive and populist candidates the support they need to win elections, 21st Century Democrats has grown to become one of the largest grassroots-oriented political action committees in the nation. We combine a commitment to progressive values with extensive field organizing experience, bringing together two critical components of Democratic success…

Participants were given an Activist Training Manual compiled by the 21st Century Democrats staff – the manual is a comprehensive (yet succinct) reference work on the nuts and bolts of campaign field work.

21st Century Democrats National Political Director Dan Lucas, National Deputy Political Director Mark Watson, and National Field & Training Director Wendy Davis utilized a tag team approach to discussing the various aspects of field work in a campaign. Participants were well engaged and consistently asked good questions – the kind that helped other participants better understand the proceedings.

The attendees where were a who’s who of Kansas City long time Democratic activists along with a number of relative newcomers (to me). It was my distinct impression that most of these individuals had a significant amount of some type of field work under their belts.

I was invited to present a session on blogs and campaigns. The 21st Century Democrats staff were generous in allowing me to take up a portion of their time to talk (and show) about blogging, and to take questions. A number of participants went home with bumper stickers.

Mark Watson of 21st Century Democrats discusses the elements of campaign message

 

Kansas City training participants with Congressman Cleaver and the 21st Century Democrats team