There's no secret. Michigan's “surprise upset” comes down to two things: when people hear Bernie's message, and have a look at who he is, they want him to lead us. And the way to let people best hear that message is with voter-to-voter contact, just like the manuals say. We have a strong ground game that was able to mobilize hundreds of volunteers. We opened 11 field offices throughout the state, some only for a few days, and in every place where we had an office and its tiny staff, the volunteers were there, the doors were knocked, the flyers were left, and the phone calls were made. And in every place where we had an office, we got the votes.
This was possible because throughout the state, a few people heard the message early on, and began to lay the groundwork back in June and July. With a handful of volunteers, our group marched in the 4th of July parade and put up a booth at Ann Arbor's huge Art Fair, that we were able to staff for 5 days. We handed out flyers with Bernie's policy points spelled out, designed by a talented team of young people, and a brilliant young lady transposed the flyer info onto Bernie fans- much appreciated in the July heat.
In Grand Rapids, in Lansing, in Monroe, Kalamazoo, Wayne-Westland, and I don't know where else, dedicated volunteers organized rallies with the union chapters, marched in parades, started Facebook pages- and stayed in touch with each other, sharing ideas and experience.
Our group was lucky to have come together around a mother-son team of very talented organizers, Michelle Regalado Deatrick and Alexander Deatrick, who went the extra mile on every occasion, insisting on a high level of professionalism, and spending practically every waking hour for months, learning organizing skills as they went, as we all did. We were joined a little later by several people who became what the campaign calls Supervols- Carolyn Hejkal memorably said that if she were told that the way to elect Bernie was to clean toilets every day she would do it! She did find a more enjoyable way, though, spending hours near the center of our huge U of M campus registering voters and gathering names on a petition to bring Bernie to Michigan. (Michigan does allow campaigning while registering voters, unlike Nevada.) Nathan Longhofer went to political organizing trainings organized by our very vibrant local Dems organization, and was there for all needs. Jim and Chris Russo put in countless hours- Chris was the producer of our iconic Feel the Bern bracelets. Other team members came on board, many spending three hours or more a day for weeks, building their own confidence. Some went from saying “I can only do data entry, or clicking,” (the secret weapon that let us call thousands of voters on cell phones) to enjoying phoning or canvassing, talking to people. And this was happening all around the state.
Michelle and Alexander were also central in designing a website, Southeast Michigan BERNers, that served as a resource for organizers all around the state, and they moderated or participated in hundreds of national training calls. When we got into the home stretch, those famous contributions let the campaign put them both on staff, and also send us a group of staffers who had already worked in the previous primary states. The energy went up (and down- like in any high-powered endeavor, the opportunities for conflict and moments of burnout abound). But the hundreds of volunteers stayed the course, lent their energy to all of us, and kept us going.
Last night was pretty fraught, as we waited to see which way Wayne County would tip. I'll try another diary about what we have learned about Michigan politics and dynamics later! But there too, a small team of dedicated people who cared, were out spreading the word, in churches and neighborhoods- and I'm convinced that if they'd had the time to reach more people we would have seen an even bigger tip to Bernie. As one of our beautiful (and black) Dem activists said, Folks, there is no firewall. People just need to hear the message.