Will Sanders follow Wellstone?

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It remains to be seen whether Sanders can convert early enthusiasm into an effective campaign, but Sanders supporters hope the state called home by quirky liberals like Eugene McCarthy and Wellstone will be fertile ground for a man once elected mayor of the funky college town of Burlington, Vt., as an avowed Socialist.

Those who knew Wellstone best and who have carried on his political legacy are less sure of the resemblance.

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The question is not academic. The organizational method preached by Wellstone has become the foundation of modern Democratic politics.

Wellstone’s background as a community organizer and scholar of the practice at Carleton College was instrumental in building the sturdy grass-roots infrastructure that helped him overcome a 7-to- 1 financial disadvantage in his 1990 upset against then-U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz. Wellstone veterans and thousands of students of “Camp Wellstone,” a teaching academy based on the organizational principles, populate the political landscape, both here and nationwide.

Obama, also a community organizer, would use these same techniques, massively leveraged by new technology, to upend the 2008 Democratic favorite, Hillary Clinton.

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If Sanders, who was unavailable for an interview, can’t build an organization in the Wellstone and Obama mold, he may never be able to compete with the Clinton juggernaut, no matter how large his crowds or pile of money... At a recent meeting of Sanders volunteers, they were doing their best to “self-organize,” as the campaign calls it.

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What exactly is the special sauce of Wellstone organizing? “It’s about developing leaders in the communities to advocate for themselves,” Kor said. So, for instance, “Instead of a paid canvasser or organizer going out and talking to people, it’s about asking volunteers to be part of the process, to create what they want for their own community and world.”

Volunteer leaders are trained and then recruit more volunteers, teaching them to become leaders in their own right and recruit volunteers of their own, in an ever-expanding participatory universe of activists taking responsibility for their own futures... Hillary Clinton had money, endorsements and a big lead in the polls in 2007, but managed to lose the nomination to Obama, in part because of his organizational prowess.

“The Clinton campaign is not going to repeat their mistakes,” said Blodgett, who is not signed up with a candidate.

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http://www.startribune.com/supporters-of-sen-bernie-sanders-hope-he-carries-torch-of-paul-wellstone/317453581/