Thursday, June 5, 2014
Grassroots Intern Training Day
On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus attended
Planned Parenthood’s Grassroots Intern Training Day. We heard from several
speakers about a range of topics, including field organizing and political
communications. Many different organizations were also in attendance, such as
MassEquality, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, and Mass Alliance.
During a workshop led by Amaad Rivera and Andi Wheeler about
field organizing, we learned the importance and empowerment of a grassroots
driven campaign through the crucial tactics of phone-banking and door-to-door
canvassing. We were also informed of the strategy of voter targeting, in which
campaigns discern which members of a population should be targeted through paid
communication such as direct mail.
Michael Falcone educated us about the difference between
politics and policy and their places in a campaign. Politics was defined as the
maintenance of relationships and conveying of policy messages, while policy was
the construction of a candidate’s position on relevant issues.
All in all, it was an enlightening day that got us excited for
this summer’s PAC work with the MWPC.
