I have routinely made the point that John Edwards is running a movement candidacy. Not in the way where he is necessarily a standard-bearer behind whom a movement follows; instead it is about growing out of a movement, the progressive movement, and putting into practice the ideas that underpin said movement.
For one example, and one in which I am very interested, the Edwards campaign has staked out a position of pushing a bold, principled, progressive agenda. What the pundit class and lazy-media call "running to the left," we in the progressive movement call showing leadersinp, showing character, and giving people a reason to engage in politics - all of which have longer-term and higher-level consequences than simply staking out a better position to attract votes and activists to win an upcoming election.
Another example is that through One Corps, the Edwards campaign gets that the netroots is far more important to Democrats and the progressive movement than being an ATM for campaign cash - we are a community and a group to organize. We are DIY and activist, and we need to be empowered to make an impact, not told what to do and when, and then asked for money every step of the way. We start our own chapters and do our own work in our own communities. That "bottom-up" (not comfortable with that term, but I have yet to come up with a better one - it works because of what it is the reflexive of...) and not top-down approach to building effective grassroots organization is at the heart of the campaign movement - especially when one compares our movement to the conservative's version.
Both messaging rooted in values expressed articulating and resonantly as well as DIY organizing using the netroots are great examples of how the Edwards campaign is movement-based. While Barack Obama is attracting "legions" of support, especially amongst younger folks and those disenchanted liberals who want to project on some empty vessel candidate their hopes and dreams for what a Democratic candidate might be like, masses of people do not a movement make. The 'processes' of movement activity and the embrace of the ethos of movement politics are more important than amounts of people at this time - and I'm still not ready to concede that Obama has much of an advantage there. Because of the movement-based nature of the Edwards campaign, his capacity to catalyze greater support in the longer-term of the campaign (and what's been happening recently in the near-term) is strong and large.
And because we inherently believe that movement-based politics are the superior way to build electoral success now and in the future, as well as to create broad-based change for the long haul, we should give credence to what the Edwards folks are doing.
One futher example (among the many more), and especially an immediate one, of the movement politics nature of the Edwards campaign is his alignment with Step It Up an organization/community, fully rooted in netroots principles, formed to bring about action on global climate change. As founder Bill McKibben himself has noted, the goals of Step It Up actually dovetail perfectly with Edwards' plan to deal with climate change and build a sustainable energy economy, developed along a parallel track. Because of John's commitment to fighting climate change, as well as addressing the root causes of it and the structural causes that further it, and because of the impact in the immediate term that Step It Up seeks to affect, the Edwards campaign has officially lined up with them for their days of action and rallies this weekend.
In keeping with the DIY nature of One Corps, the grassroots-owned, grassroots-driven/directed, and the grassroots-operated arm of the campaign, the Edwards folks have asked their chapters to join Step It Up this weekend in their own way. Our local chapter will join in a rally and march with Step It Up. Nobody is telling us what to do, we are creating it on our own. We have put together our own involvement, from getting a table set up (we're the only organization affiliated with a campaign that will be there) to clipboarding the attendees to tell them about Edwards' take on climate change (and how it expresses a larger vision of progressive action and change) to marching with our Edwards gear on to publicizing it to the local media. We're doing it because we own it. We own this campaign, just like we own the movement.
And back to the movement themes...
Another thing in which I am really interested in building a progressive movement is the linking between electoral and issue politics and campaigns. There have always been walls erected between electoral activists and issue activists. Sure, there is overlap, especially in dynamic and politically-active communities like ours in Madison, WI; but there has rarely been true linkage. I'm not just talking about coordination on message and strategy (and to a certain extent, some of that is expressly prohibited by law) - I mean actual linkage between the people, the agendas, the leaders, the action, and the goals. There are other barriers erected between elements of what will become a more full-fledged progressive movment, including not just electoral and issue political organizations, but also things like non-profits and community groups, media elements, social and intellectual institutions, and just in general the stakeholders in the movement (and in this I include the populace at-large).
This is one more way in which the Edwards campaign is leading by being part of the progressive movement. We are linking up with an issue group, sharing our time and talents, and advancing a common agenda. Just like the Edwards campaign has led by driving the conversation through their copious plans on critical issues facing our country and the way they are couched in the values of a vision for a progressive nation, the sense and sentiments behind those plans are being expressed through action on the local level, in conjunction with another element of the movement.
And as this is part of bringing new people into the campaign, it is breaking down, at least in some small way (or big, who knows right now) one of the barriers that have been erected between movement stakeholders. Paul Wellstone was a master of this - and his electoral success while advocating a strongly progressive message in doing this kind of work serve as a Movement Electoral Politics 1.0 blueprint. Edwards is using this as an abstract base on which to build from a foundation on up a movement-based candidacy. That's obviously good for him, as again, we know that movement politics are the way to build electoral success in the near- and long-terms; and it's great for the movement, because it not only gives us something around which to rally and build upon even in the future, but also because it legitimizes further our brand of politics.
So if you're in the Madison-area and you want to help build a movement and build a movement-based candidacy for John Edwards, come on out to our One Corps/John Edwards event with Step It Up.