An article in The Nation by Becky Bond and Zack Exley, two uber-organizers from the Sanders campaign and MoveOn.org, lays out how organization is supposed to work and will prevail over paid-staff models (like the failed Clinton campaign).

One of the greatest lessons from the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign was that a relatively tiny number of staff using fairly basic technology can unleash hundreds of thousands of volunteers to do serious work to advance a nationwide movement. There is no reason this energy shouldn’t continue to grow. Passionate, moral, and urgent opposition to Trumpism could represent the greatest opportunity for mass participation in politics since the antiwar movement of a half-century ago.

Indeed.  But you better have the right people leading for such a phenomenon to exist. Sanders inspired so many people, not just the young.  Clinton did not.  If you have the right inspirational leaders, and a cause, then no problem.

And I imagine and hope that we will all come together in our common goal of vanquishing Trumpism:  Democrats, progressives, liberals, leftists, greens, vegans, furries – whatever you are or identify as, if you’re a sentient being that sees the future as more human and less corporate, we have to work together.

But that’s easier said than done because we can all seek to work together but still disagree on methods, tactics and goals… and leaders.

To that end the formidable Nancy Pelosi was re-elected as minority leader in the House.  I love Nancy Pelosi, she has delivered in the past, but the Democratic team has been losing since 2010 and it’s time to fire the coach.  Hell, it’s time to fire all the coaches in the party that brought us to 2016.  To put it in Godfather terms, we need a wartime consiglieri and maybe a grandma in her 70s from San Francisco isn’t the best choice.  You can make the case that Pelosi is tainted in many of the same ways that Hilary Clinton was –  she’s been a punching bag for the right for so long that many in the public have an image of her that is unfair, but also may cripple her effectiveness in reaching out to a broader coalition and making change.

I fear this decision to keep the coach is a long term loser.