Adrienne Christian: The grassroots “made the campaign for Jim Webb”
Adrienne Christian was Deputy Campaign Manager on the Webb for Senate campaign in 2006. Currently, Christian is campaign manager for Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD). The following contains excerpts from an interview between Lowell Feld and Adrienne Christian, conducted on April 27, 2007.
Feld: Did you know what type of candidate and campaign this was?
Christian: I had worked in Virginia before, for Chap Petersen. I understood the type of volunteers there would be in nothern Virginia…idealistic people [who] dreamed of making a footprint in America. They came to Washington DC for a reason…[these are] people who are reallly professional, very astute, highly educated, a very savvy group of people who understood the importance of the [Webb-Miller] primary.
Feld: It’s not that way in other places in the country?
Christian: There are savvy people in other states. The difference is that Virginia has an election every year. People come from many other states to Virginia…That’s unique about the DC area/NOVA. I’m finding the same thing now that I’m working in Maryland for Donna Edwards in Prince George’s. The caliber of the volunteers is very high. [In addition], you had the excitement of Tim Kaine, you had the residual…all of this good will, [a feeling that] we did something great, we got the state on track, we still have other battles to fight, so let’s keep going. People already had it in their minds that they could take this Senate seat. The bloggers maintained that, kind of pushed that energy out there. We got Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, why would we not look at another statewide office…why look at the Senate seat any differently than other statewide races? If you can take the governor’s seat, what prevents you from taking the federal seat, if the candidate is right?
Feld: The Democratic Party wanted Harris Miller to run against George Allen. Why do you think the netroots totally did not support Harris Miller at all and they looked for another candidate?
Christian: In America, everyone understands the outsourcing of jobs for manufacturing, but people don’t have a grasp of what outsourcing is doing to high tech industry. Many bloggers have been in the industry or have had friends who had been in the industry.
Feld: Reporters said it was liberal bloggers who were anti-Iraq War who drafted James Webb. Was the media narrative correct?
Christian: I don’t agree with that narrative, because it takes away from the savviness of the bloggers. There were bloggers from all over the state, it wasn’t just one narrow issue. Electability was a major issue for the bloggers. Also, name recognition, credibility, and [electability] - who can battle Allen in the areas where Republicans are usually strong.
Feld: When you came on, was there any kind of strategizing about running a grassroots/netroots, bottom-up campaign?
Christian: There was no specific meeting about this, it was a consistent, everyday thing…We had to wait to bring you on until we had money. But we reached out to you before you were hired. [The campaign was] enhanced by using the netroots.
Feld: What was the attitude of campaign staff towards netroots/campaign? Welcoming, suspicious, hostile, other?
Christian: It was an individual kind of belief. [Campaign manager] Jessica [Vanden Berg] was positive, I believed it would work in certain cases. I’ve never seen it work as successfully in a primary as in the Webb-Miller case. In general elections, I’ve seen it. It’s hard for reporters to come up with story ideas; they were reading the blogs just as much as we were. The blogs help steer [reporter'] stories. In the Kerry for President and Obama for Senate campaigns, the netroots provided access to money they would normally not have had. The netroots allowed Obama to expand his base, to go national. The internet allows access to unbelievable amounts of money. In general, the influence is financial. In a primary, netroots action can make you a bona fide candidate. Webb was a Reagan Administration figure [running] against a guy who had given money to every Democrat in the state. How do you sell that? You all were able to show Jim interacting with Democrats across the state. We didnt’ have reporters at everything, [but] you all were able to give a person in NOVA a sliver of what happened in Chesapeake or Virginia Beach. You helped people to see that Webb was viable…You all were able to help him communicate his values (e.g., the “Three Americas”). The grassroots picked up on this and shared the message.
Feld: Do you think there was a good division of labor between the campaign and the netroots? Maybe the netroots was able to hit harder than the campaign wanted to do itself?
Christian: It was the perfect storm. We all knew what our goal was. I can’t say the netroots went too far. I think they crafted a message that was in line with what we were saying, they just took it to the next level, they had the ability to be consistent, to get it out there. There was never a point when the netroots said, let’s take a break.
Feld: Were you guys reading the blogs, were you monitoring constantly?
Christian: Everyone’s different. I checked aggregator every othe rday. If I had had the time, I would have checked every day.
Feld: If we had said something really outrageous that you weren’t happy with, would you have let us know that?
Christian: A call would have been placed if there was incorrect/inaccurate information. Bloggers have freedom to say what they want to say.
Feld: Any points during primary where you felt, oh my god these people are crazy, the netroots has gone too far this time, we’re in deep shit now.
Christian: I can’t think of an example off the top of my head. Webb wasn’t reading the blogs much if at all. Reporters try to create tension. With the blogs, there’s not as much tension as with the general media.
Feld: I’m amazed at how much the campaign pretty much kept hands off attitude towards the blogs, didn’t seem particularly concerned about what the blogs were saying. I probably would have wanted to develop a blog strategy, bring on a netroots coordinator early.
Christian: When you have no money, everyone’s doing 10 jobs, some things fall between the cracks. You have this faith. I was not ever really scared about the netroots. I wasn’t concerned about that.
Feld: One of the themes was that the Webb campaign was completely unprofessional, these bloggers were running it, they need to get some adults in there.
Christian: The bloggers WERE adults. I would have loved to have had Sam Penney blogging. I am very careful not to fall in line with undercutting bloggers. These are intelligent, educated people, computer savvy…The bloggers are blending culture and other things…allowing for an actual exchange of ideas between intelligent people. The blogosphere is a medium to be able to understand transportation problem, etc. They’re developing a new community. The old community of organized precincts is still there, getting a little older, but bloggers are creating a new community. Precinct people trying to move into blogosphere, connect the two worlds. Before, people were concerned but there was no way for them to get involved.
Feld: Do you think the blogs are empowering? For instance, the 100,000 donors to Obama; why are these people getting involved? Is it technology or more issues like Iraq?
Christian: The crucial part of fundraising is asking. Now, even if you can only give $10, if it’s from all around America, it adds up. You feel like you’re part of something, maybe my $10 is worth something. We’ve never had an opportunity before. You can’t reach out to the $10 donor in traditional ways. But on the blogs, you can. The internet has opened up the idea that I, school teacher Jane, can give $100 over the course of the campaign. It opens up peoples’ minds to that. There are people who want to participate to whatever degree [they can].
Feld: During Webb-Miller, the Webb campaign didn’t raise much money but got a lot of volunteers. The blogs helped organize people. We had people at every single event, Miller had nobody.
Christian: During the Webb-Miller primary, blogs provided the bona fides for Webb. They communicated the message that Webb’s a good candidate and he can win. The blogs had credibility in communicating this message. We were able to save money by not having to pay people to do these events because we had the grassroots. Miller was paying for everything.
Feld: Yes, for instance the petition drive was taken care of by the grassroots, people like Mary Detweiler. What about tension between the grassroots and the campaign? The grassroots wanted more communication…it came to a head after the primary, when Jim Franklin quit and Mary Detweiler almost quit. It was almost like there was an invisible force field between the professional end of the hall and the grassroots end. What was going on?
Christian: The lack of attention from Jarding was because he was doing other things…book tour. [Also], Jessica has a very masculine leadership style which put people off at times. Liz [Reiter, the campaign scheduler] was not warm and fuzzy. There became this divide. I tried to walk a fine line between them.
Feld: For instance, numerous volunteers complained that the campaign professionals wouldn’t even walk down the hall to say “hi.” All most of them wanted was a little appreciation.
Christian: The staff was all instant messaging each other, so they didn’t have to get up. Every day, I would speak to everybody. People get so busy. Jessica was busy, had a million things to do. She was kind of drowning, staying right above the fray, working from 7 in the morning until 1 AM. She wasn’t able to respond like I was able to respond. I was known for being responsive.
Feld: Would we have done better with a weekly conference call with key grassroots campaign?
Christian: The intention to be accessible was there.
Feld: Was the feeling that the netroots was low priority?
Christian: I don’t know.
Feld: Some things got going in the last few weeks of the campaign on constituency groups [Women, Korean Americans, Hispanics, etc]
Christian: There’s no way I could organize all these constituency groups. I had no time.
Feld: Eric Byler and Annabel Park took it on themselves to organize Korean Americans/Asians for Webb. They did radio shows, fairs. How do you think volunteers did in terms of consitutency groups?
Christian: I think the volunteers did an unbelievable job. That’s [one areas] where they played a key role. When you knew there were things that needed to be done but you couldn’t do it, the grassroots would come out of nowhere. I took it for granted. I always thought the grassroots would be with us, because they started it, so they had to finish it. We cut things out of our budget because we knew the grassroots was taking care of it.
Feld: Some of the [constituency] groups were covered by the grassroots but not all. Where the campaign didn’t really care, they just sort of let it happen. With other areas like veterans, the grassroots were very frustrated, felt like the campaign was blocking them.
Christian: The campaign wasn’t blocking them. The was no staff or money to implement them. [Also], Jim was very particular about veterans outreach, he wanted it done in a certain way.
Feld: Were there certain areas where the campaign said let the grassroots do their thing?
Christian: I look at numbers; you con’t just do things in the minority community because it feels good. You ask, how many votes does it get you? You need to be able to connect the candidate to the community. You have to ask, where do you invest your candidate’s time/money? Some grassroots don’t see the big picture, only their narrow focus. Some people live and breath a particular issue. [Some volunteers] wanted political call time, [and when we said no] it became a personal attack on Adrienne because she supposedly didn’t care about a particular ethnic group. No, Adrienne is a realistic person. You have to prioritize. They don’t see the entire table, only their seat. If you don’t drink the kool aid on their issue…individuals in the grassroots, not the grassroots as a whole. Not every individual can be the chief. You don’t build an effective organization by chipping away at other people. [Volunteer Marc Greidinger] sent an e-mail criticizing [campaign staffer, focused on the African American community] Michael Brown, I said I’ll never talk to you again.
You get jerks in both the professional and the grassroots worlds. For instance, I went into fundraising [one time] and asked had you got any money from [real estate agent, Webb volunteer, and frequent Democratic donor] Teddy Goodson? They were like, no, she’s just a volunteer. I asked Teddy for money, she maxed out. You have to respect the volunteers. On both sides, there were people who didn’t respect the other side. Don’t be so dismissive of a person….
Feld: Two different cultures, two differnt worlds, the grassroots/netroots and the professionals? Maybe more in the finance realm? Idealists vs. cynics?
Christian: Most people came into politics because of passion, not money. Professionals bring a certain specific experience.
Feld: A lot of the grassroots had the same experience. Is it just connections?
Christian: Not necessarily. Most people won’t work 10 hours per day for very little money. Josh [Chernila] comes from more from a commitment to the issues, a supportive wife. Not many people are like that, or could afford to do that.
Feld: Overall, how did the grassroots/professional interaction work out? Could it have been better?
Christian: Anything can be better. On a scale of 1-5, we were 3.
Feld: What if you had brought on Josh or me earlier?
Christian: Had Josh been brought on a little bit earlier, had field used Josh to his full potential, [it could have been better]. Josh was taking direction, [but he] could have been even more effective [if he had been given more freedom]. It’s amazing to think [what we could have accomplished] if we had had two more months.
Feld: Would Jim have gotten in race without the draft?
Christian: I don’t think Jim would have gotten in without the draft. I don’t think he would have won the primary. The legs that the campaign stood on were the legs of the grassroots. I don’t think you can win without grassroots; netroots I’m not sure. If we could have maintained the volunteers we got from the primary, maybe we could have won without the blogs…”macaca” opened the door to allow credibility to what other bloggers were already saying, to allow the mainstream to pick it up.
Feld: Would the “macaca” incident have blown up like it did without the blogs?
Christian: Allen thought it wouldn’t get out from The Breaks to the rest of the world. You had bloggers who were from that area who said I’m not like that.
Feld: Did the pro-Allen bloggers help or hurt Allen?
Christian: They got in the game too late. [At the end, there was] a desperate attempt to drop a research bomb. Allen chose to do that through the blogs.
Feld: On Webb campaign, I was writing as Lowell on Raising Kaine. I had a disclaimer but I was employed by the Webb campaign. It was almost a miracle it worked out. What do you think?
Christian: The purpose of the blog is to give other people the opportunity to talk. You were just providing them a forum.
Feld: Did you do background checks on us?
Christian: You don’t think Jon Paul [Lupo] did research on you all? Jon Paul researched everyone.
Feld: Did the Webb campaign research other bloggers?
Christian: You have to know the players.
Feld: Do you have any good stories about the grassroots?
Christian: The grassroots is really what made the campaign for Jim Webb. [I remember] being on the road [with Jim], not knowing what would happen, showing up to a full house. That was because of the grassroots. The grassroots came through, they never let us down. There was not one time that the grassroots did not show up with unbelievable numbers. Webb was so tired at the end, on his last leg. He would show up and we would say there were going to be 50 people there, then there’d be 300. That provided Jim energy at every stop. Webb fed off of the energy, everyone fed off of it. It’s amazing to show up expecting 10 people and see 200. It’s all excitement. The [grassroots supporters] made that energy for him. To see young, old, black, white…you saw Virginia showing up everywhere. That, to me, was exciting and powerful. It’s hard being on the road, but to get somewhere, to see that grassroots excitement… We weren’t even organizing, but [the grassroots] made magic happen. That energized me and got me ready for the next one. For Jim to be able to show up at an event, for a man to hand him his child and say I want a picture with the next Senator from Virginia, you would see a change, he could feel the genuine respect for the office, excitement. If I had to rate the grassroots on producing in the state of Virginia…on a scale of 1-5, they were always a 5. In some areas, they were a 5.6. The grassroots, given the chance, they came alive. When they become inspired, coming together, meeting like minded people, it’s [an amazing thing]. The blogs allowed them to meet, even in rural areas, allowed like minded people to meet up. That’s an unbelievable thing.
Tags: Adrienne Christian