in iowa, a boot camp trains an army of progressive foot soldiers - overhead projector for sale

Des moines, Iowa-
Big Spring, 26, remembers the moment he decided to run.
That was December 2017, when Jimmy Dixon, a Republican at the North Carolina convention, announced the financial crisis of 2007 --
It is a "good blessing" because it imposes fiscal responsibility on the country ".
A single mother working in the state government raised love in Virginia and replenished her income with nursing work over the weekend.
Dixon's blessing almost brought destruction to the family of love.
Now living in North Carolina, Love has decided to challenge Dixon's seat, which includes a rural area in the southeast of the state.
The vast majority of the region is poor and white;
Love is a university.
Educated black youth from outside the state.
But on the same day Dickson commented, Doug Jones became the first Democrat to win the U. S.
Senate from Alabama for nearly 30 years
Like Dixon angered him, it inspired his love.
He wondered if he could force similar frustration despite his lack of political experience.
Or, as he said recently, "Sir
Did Smith really go to Washington?
"Love to rely on school funding, expand healthcare options and better work.
Wearing his signature orange sneakers, he walked past, knocked on the door in the rural areas of the area, and talked to people who had never been involved in the political process.
Orange, in turn, became the color of his campaign.
"I really spent all my life savings," Love said . ".
The reality of funding a campaign is a slap in the face ".
"The same is true of the grim reality of partisan rezoning, where Republicans have successfully redrawn to increase their share of seats in the house.
Love won the Democratic primary with 4,262 votes and 640 voted in the primary.
But in the general election, Dixon received about 13,465 votes, almost twice as much as love.
A year later, love Des Moines in Iowa.
He was wearing an orange trench coat for the 2018 season, but he didn't run anything.
Instead, he is learning to be a campaign worker at Arena College, a progressive training camp that hopes to place 450 graduates in the Democratic presidential campaign, with another 550 graduates.
The result of the vote.
The broader hope is to replicate the talent pipeline that has long supported conservative movement, if not imitation.
"I'm here because I want to know how to ensure that we can select more people to provide adequate funding for our public schools and expand the coverage of health care, to be frank, let's make our world better than we 've found, "Love said during a five-day second-day training session, which will culminate in a competitor's simulation.
"That's why I'm here.
We don't have this in the countryside of North Carolina.
"Arena is one of several efforts for the left to replicate the long-term enjoyment of the right: a national network of skilled political agents who can move seamlessly between presidential campaigns, the mission on Capitol Hill and the important game of the Florida Parliament.
"To be honest, the right wing has been investing longer than we have in talent," says Kate Cathera, a partner at an arena.
The founder of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
"Democrats, we are in love with the candidate, and we are focused on that.
We don't focus on infrastructure as much as we need.
A Democratic strategist who asked for anonymity to speak frankly agreed to the assessment.
Over the past few years, "there has been no serious investment in data, technology, and organization," she explained . ".
This is partly due to the actions of Obama's own activist group, parallel to the functions of the Democratic National Committee.
"Why would I give it to DNC when I can give it to OFA?
The Democratic strategist explained how the former was affected by the latter.
When Obama stepped down in 2017, she said: "Infrastructure is the same as him.
Our Party was destroyed.
"At the same time, the Republican National Committee is investing in state Republicans, where most of the real work of the political campaign has been done.
This is a crucial development because, as Democratic strategists have explained, "The States Parties are actually on the ground," the "eyes and ears" of the Central Washington institution ".
So when Republicans expand their business and train people across the country, Democrats are hardly prepared to do so.
This has finally begun to change.
Just a few days before the first class at Arena College appeared in wintry Des Moines, the DNC announced its own training program to organize the 2020 Legion, which aims to train 1,000 senior college students to run for the presidency.
The training will take place in swing states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida and will be paid.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
It's called personnel training for DCCC. U.
The founder of Arena said that while their approach may be different in some ways from that of democratic institutions, there is no competition.
"We want more people to do this," Arena co-said . "
Founder Ravi Gupta
"The problem is huge.
This is not just a question of numbers. The first-
Arena training-
The second game will be held in Charleston, USA. C. —
This happens when politicians are more focused on how to treat their employees, many of whom are young and underpaid. Sen.
I'm Bernie Sanders. Vt.
However, in his 2016 campaign, he had to admit allegations of gender discrimination.
Another presidential candidate, Sen.
Amy in Chloe cloth charMinn.
She has been charged with abuse against her Senate staff.
In fact, when the participants of the arena Academy listened during the training to the opening meeting on the need for inclusion and respect, twitter gobbled up the latest about Klobuchar's alleged abuse of power, a salad from the New York Times. shoveling comb.
Arena began with a series of gatherings after the 2016 election: "almost like a political Woodstock," Arena said, although it may not have made acid trips on muddy land.
Tony Schwartz, a substitute for former presidential candidate Martin O'Malley and Donald Trump's Art of trade, also attended the meeting.
Gupta finally quit his job as a chartered school operator and teamed up with Catherall, an agency that provides free support for progressive political candidates.
In preparation for the 2018 midterm elections, Gupta and Catherall decided to provide free campaign guidance to more than 50 candidates who share their progressive views.
They recognize that while the desire to win a victory over the Republican Party is enormous, many progressives are eager to run for office without realizing the demands of this campaign, especially if we want to win.
"If you do this for the first time, the whole world of consultants, suppliers and parties is very complex and difficult to navigate," Catherall said . ".
In last November, Lauren andwood successfully won a House seat in the suburbs of Chicago, becoming the youngest African --
American women elected to Congress
As a trained nurse, she was shocked by the Republican Party's plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and decided to seek an office.
Alexander Biage, another arena-
The supported candidate, who won a key seat in the New York State Senate, overthrew a Democrat who often held a party-mass meeting with House Republicans.
Linna idargo, 27, became the first Latina to lead Harris County, including the City of Houston and some of its suburbs.
"I have no one but my Arena people who is a priority," andwood talked about the support she received from Catherine, who was at Hilton restaurant after a crowded flight from Chicago
She and idargo were one of several alumni who came to arena College last weekend.
It's hard to say how much influence the arena has in the 2018 election, because it's one of the many groups that support Democratic candidates, and it's not the richest.
However, candidates like andwood say the way they are treated by upstart organizations
Important organs of the party.
When asked if the Democratic Party would help, andwood countered with his own challenge.
"What you define is helpful," she said . "
"Their goal is to retake the majority," she explained . ".
"I didn't feel that they were particularly concerned about how they did it.
Her best compliment to DCCC is that it decided not to support one of the Democrats she challenged.
Other candidates are not so lucky.
In the Texas primary, the Democratic Party effectively destroyed Laura Moze's campaign, which she was considered too free to win in the general election.
But even with Catherine's help, it's hard for andwood to hire employees for her campaign.
She frankly admitted that part of this was related to the weather in Illinois.
But weather is not an excuse, she knows.
"We don't have qualified, experienced Democratic staff and agents to get involved in these activities, so we're begging when I'm ready to hire employees," says andwood.
They won't come.
Andwood won in last November, but Gupta and Cathera realized that their model was unsustainable.
Even if they hired more coaches and set up a fundraising committee to support the campaign directly, they realized, there is nothing like training men and women who work behind the scenes to drive the movement to help the progressive movement.
So they designed the arena Academy.
They collected about 700 applications for it.
They also want campaign staff to represent the diversity of the progressive movement.
The upper reaches of political consultation are so male. and so white —
Last year, Politico called it "the most politically difficult glass ceiling ".
"If there is no rise of women and people of color among the campaign staff, this cap will remain the same as ever.
To this end, the arena College has attracted female and minority white employees.
It offers a full scholarship
Travel and accommodation included-
51% participants.
The vast majority of these scholarships70 percent —
Granted to people of color.
"Diversity is on the face of it," said Shaniqua McClendon, political director and one of the opening ceremonies hosts of crooked media when it comes to democratic politics --
Day group of Arena College.
Macrendon believes that diversity is not only a moral requirement, but also a political requirement, especially when the issue of race and representation is a time of intense public debate.
She pointed to Sen.
Elizabeth Warren's response to the challenge of her Native American background ultimately led to a widely criticized video.
"Imagine if she had a Native American consultant, which means there must be a smarter and more sincere way to answer Trump's response to" Pocahontas "," McClendon said.
"One of the people who came to Des Moines was Hadia Afzal, an energetic and talkative 19-year-
Old man from suburban Chicago.
Practice Muslims (
Her family is from Pakistan)
She is wearing a black headscarf, which will make her stand out in most of the political spaces where Brooks Brothers suits are prevalent.
But during the day of training she took the time to have lunch and she said arena Academy was "a space where I can learn freely.
"Her focus is on the role of the campaign organizer, who is often responsible for translating information about the campaign into ground games.
Other tracks include tracks from the finance director, communications director and event manager.
Like several other participants, Afzal has run for the campaign.
Last year, she decided to seek a seat on the DuPage County Board.
This is a campaign she launched in her parents' living room when she was in college.
"I didn't realize how difficult it was," Afzal said . ".
"Everything we do goes well.
"Losing the game makes her more determined to know what it takes to win the game.
Although many of the participants were young, some were already in middle age.
Jean Valencia Macaulay is close to 60
The last time she ran for anything, she was the principal of her high school class (she lost).
She eventually moved out of her home in Santa Barbara, California.
She worked in Silicon Valley and raised two children.
Her most important political activity over the years has been forcing property developers to limit the size of luxury goodshome project.
On January 2015, Stanford swimmer block Turner was accused of sexually abusing another student who drank too much at a campus party.
The judge who presided over the Turner case, Stanford graduate Alan Kaspersky, presented Turner with a tolerant six
A one-month sentence on the grounds that "it is a huge collateral consequence for him
Turner was convicted.
This angered many Americans, including Macaulay.
She ended up signing efforts to remove Persky as campaign manager for assistant Santa Clara District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson.
"I did everything," she recalls.
"I did a fundraiser and I called people.
I did it from the recliner in my room.
"On the eve of the election, she jogged and thought they might win with 60% of the vote;
When counting the ticket, Hendrickson beat Persky with 69% votes.
Macaulay came to the arena to consolidate what she learned during the Hendrickson campaign, especially because she had her own goals for something more ambitious.
"My goal is to find the right people to fight Devin Nunes," she said . "
A regional congressman who is an ally of President Trump.
She will not be able to carry out the campaign from her familyroom recliner.
While progressive people may need a training model, Gupta said, he and catherlal are not interested in replicating the "command and control" structure of conservative militant groups like the billionaire Koch brothers and others.
"They are ahead of us in terms of infrastructure, but I don't think they will
"It is in our interest to build their infrastructure," he said . ".
There is a lot to admire about the ability of the right wing to recruit, retain and deploy, but Gupta envisions a progressive jazz band with some freedom to improvise, in response to his description of the other party's highly scripted "marching band" mentality.
As for the training course itself, they offered a crash course in an attempt to quickly instill in the participants the basics of activity management.
The foundation is where things start.
On the first day, it involves simple things like explaining "talk time" or having candidates call to raise money.
But a few days later, at the group meeting of campaign organizers, a projector included phrases such as "building a data-complete culture" and "positioning, building and layering the voter world.
"Attendees discussed in many other topics whether it would be better to call potential voters or send text messages.
The lecturers made things go well and often used humor to relax.
DeJuana Thompson, one of Woke Vote's presenters, urged her students to pay attention to the methods used so effectively by the Tea Party in 2010.
"Whether you like it or not, it's a sport," she said . ".
At the same time, at the campaign manager's meeting, there was a lesson on the budget.
The aspiring communications director learned how to write a press release.
They also learned about "quick response" or when doo-
Fight fan.
As for the campaign, many participants were thinking about these issues before the training was over.
When we found SenKamala Harris —
Democrats from California are running for president.
One morning, an intern accosted the candidate at the gym and showed her a resume. "You're a gangster!
The next morning, Harris said that she linked the story of the encounter to the sudden cameo laughter at the morning Arena meeting, and then prepared to conduct barnstorm across the state.
She said she had handed her resume to her sister Maya, who is the chairman of the Harris campaign.
Then she got serious.
"Elections are important," Harris said . " He repeated the words that have been well received by progressive people since Trump won.
Without the tedious work of dealing with numbers and knocking on doors, these elections cannot be won.
Harris said it and said it again.
Speaking of the 2020 election, she said, "the ultimate goal will determine the future direction of our country.
Then she said for the last time: "Elections are important.
Read more on Yahoo News: How Michael Cohen's testimony threatens Trump's presidential Democrats to predict that the House will receive Trump's tax refund: an oil and gas group in the interior ministry called Trump a "reckless, careless" environmental disruption. The Soviets wanted to infiltrate the Reagan camp.
So the CIA recruited a businessman to lure them.
Photo: flooded communities in Northern California