Kirk Noden thinks that Democrats can build strong majorities in Midwestern states—and he has a strategy for how to do it.
A paper Noden wrote for his State Power Action Fund group, “Winning the Midwest: Disrupting Myths and Building Multiracial Governing Coalitions,” lays out how Democrats can take back lost ground in the traditionally blue rust belt and develop a transformative framework for winning in the future.
State Power Action is a hub for progressive organizers nationwide. The group’s aim is to provide guidance and assistance for organizations around the country and provide a space for them to talk and work on strategy together. The “Winning the Midwest” paper is part of that mission.
The paper presents the reader with an overview of the region’s challenges and historical trends. Once a booming economic powerhouse, the past five decades have left the Midwest behind as brain drain and outsourcing have made the region stagnant and fed up.
“The hope and despair of the people of the Midwest is driven by the interlocking forces of deindustrialization, deeply segregated communities, growing precarity, and the failure of our political system to address the destabilization of people’s economic and cultural identity,” the report reads.
A long-term approach
Noden, a longtime community organizer from Ohio, has been organizing in the Midwest since college. He got his start in Chicago, then, after a few years, worked in Birmingham, England to help the city’s Muslims in their interactions with police. His career since then in the U.S. has been focused on putting the principles of community organizing to work in order to make political change at the state and national level.
Doing that takes work and a commitment to being in the community more than just at election time. Operatives and consultants look at large turnout years like 2020 and want to know the quickest way to duplicate the numbers—without investing the time and energy.
“They want massive turnout without the actual investment and the tension that goes along with that investment,” Noden said, adding, “our ability to invest and believe in those kinds of organizations is critical to anchoring a multiracial governing coalition.”
Messaging is an important aspect of the strategy as well. Letting voters know about the benefits of Democratic-led legislation as they consider whether or not to head to the polls—and who to vote for—is an essential element of getting out the vote. But it can’t be the main thrust, Noden said.
“Ultimately the core of our political movement has to be base building, leadership development, and investment and competition with people on the ground,” Noden said. “Or what we're building is pretty fleeting.”
A different funding model
The trick is to “unleash grassroots organizing,” Noden told Blue Tent. In order to get to their full potential, groups need to look outside of traditional funding—they can’t be reliant on a few big-name donors and foundations. While that money can help, and has a place, it’s not sustainable.
“Grassroots organizing needs to be funded differently,” Noden said. “We need more independent money.”
That money leads to being present in communities all the time, not just during election seasons—because the artifice involved in reconnecting with people just to get the vote out leads to diminishing returns and voter malaise. Same with big-money ad campaigns and flyers; the potential to swing the election is there but the tactic doesn’t earn the kind of loyalty that makes turning out the vote easier the next cycle.
“There's a ton of money that I think can be redirected—we can definitely invest in building institutions while also investing in and practically and concretely winning elections,” Noden said. “Those things shouldn't be pitted against one another.”