Episode 45 Hour of Decision: “Grassroots Energy Empowered: Bypassing Party and Media Elites” (Chp. 4 of Forerunner, The Unlikely Role of Ron Paul)

Lew tells the tale of the Ron Paul “Moneybombs” of 2007 and 2008, which turned grassroots energy into millions of campaign dollars, bypassing the special interest circuitry which was the usual source of presidential campaign funding. He also brings to light that the first Tea Party movement rallies were created as part of the 2nd Ron Paul Moneybomb. This incredible series of events occurred on Dec. 16, 2007, commemorating the Boston Tea Party, raising $6m in ONE DAY for the Paul campaign in the process.The return of the central role of grassroots presidential politics and the fierce partisanship that goes with it began in the late 1990s and early 2000s. From that time elections became once again, as they were in the 1800s, more about turning out the base than persuading undecided voters.Lew discusses the decisions, first by the AFL-CIO (for the Democrats), and then by Karl Rove (for George Bush), to dramatically increase funding and effort around building grassroots data bases and direct voter contact networks, “the ground game,” while decreasing the prior emphasis on 30 second TV ads, “the air war.” One result has been the steady rise of voter turnout. Volunteer armies, and the public are motivated by the stark contrasts the parties and their supporters on social media depict in salvos launched across a widening partisan divide.The role and evolution of bottom-up, web-based (and now mostly social media) campaigning by individuals in this new grassroots era is a critical piece of the puzzle. Its new importance was exemplified by the campaigns of Howard Dean in 2004 and Ron Paul in 2008 and 2012. These campaigns showed how financial, party, and media elites could be bypassed in a political effort galvanizing the energy produced by what appeared to be an authentic candidate, using new communication technology in the hands of virtually every American.The co-option of the new web-based grassroots phenomenon is also important to understand. It was personified by the fake bottom-up model developed by the Barack Obama campaign. Obama received more Wall Street cash than any candidate in 2008 and had over 7,000 paid organizers keeping the grassroots in line and strictly on their message while they sold their effort as a bottom-up, anti-establishment, people’s campaign.