Obama built from the ground up - or - grassroots organizing works

As a follow-up to my last Political IQ column, it's worth noting that Barack Obama's smashingly successful campaign built from the ground up. Campaign Manager David Plouffe explains:

Our first priority was the ground operation because we thought that was essential to us winning. It's very much, I think, a unique approach. In a lot of campaigns, the media gets funded first, then if you have extra money that comes in, you bolster the field and things of that sort. And we kind of did it in reverse....

First of all, we knew that we had to get really good turnout, and that we thought a human being talking to a human being in a state is the most effective in communication. So we needed an organization that was able to facilitate that.

The gay rights movement is a bit like a presidential campaign, only more so. A successful presidential candidate only has to win in a few key states. In order for LGBT Americans to get equality we have to win in every state. We should all be studying Obama 101 right now.