At Team Grossman, we used organizing for the convention as a means of organizing for the primary and general elections this fall. We began calling delegates on the evening of the first caucus (Needham) and continued reaching out to undecided delegates up until the vote was cast. We had representation at approximately half of the 600+ caucuses around the state, and also had a presence at a significant number of town meetings and town elections throughout the winter and spring. We also used our delegate outreach as a means of collecting our nomination signatures (and turned in well over 10,000 certified — 5,000 are needed to get on the ballot).
Additionally — and perhaps most effectively — we began holding regional meet & greets with Steve and invited both delegates and non-delegates, looking for support for the convention and the elections this fall. These regional meet & greets — literally held in every corner of the state — were hugely successful in getting our message out there and recruiting new volunteers to our team. We’ll continue these meet & greets throughout September, and if fortunate enough to prevail in the Primary, all the way through November 2nd.
Last, but certainly not least, is the caliber and character of our candidate. I have often remarked that being Steve Grossman’s Field Director is akin to being Babe Ruth’s batting coach. As hard as we all worked, he worked just as hard alongside us as we prepared for the Convention. With pride, I watched him win over the last three delegates who exited the DCU center late Friday night. His speech on Saturday was among the strongest.
Here’s the moral of the story. We put in place a convention plan that outperformed our wildest expectations and conventional wisdom. We have a similar aggressive plan for the primary election on September 14th and, if successful, for November 2nd. As we’ve proven with the convention, the Grossman campaign is a grass-roots effort that boasts an incredible (and growing) volunteer army. We need you to be a part of it. Please join our team and let’s put the Treasurer’s office back in Democratic hands.
Per several requests, please find a copy of our convention video below.
Disclosure: I proudly serve as Steve Grossman’s Field Director.
Horseshit. Murphy took all the delegates in my town.
…he does say that Grossman won “almonst” every city and town. I don’t know if there is an easy way to cite since I don’t believe the state party posts result breakdowns online, but this is verifiable enough as a basic fact. For that matter my town was swept by Murphy too:(
It’s a verbatim version of what Matt originally posted. The “almonst” was apparently edited into his diary after I called him out on his exaggeration.
There were an awful lot of people in orange shirts streaming out of the trailer room who looked pretty crestfallen after the results came in. Didn’t at all look like a bunch of guys who were happy to have made history. Looked more like they were upset that they failed to keep the ballot to themselves in September.
I am a member of the Grossman team and I can tell you that we were excited, overwhelmed, and extremely humbled by the outpouring of support from the convention delegates. I could not be happier with what we accomplished. I speak for the rest of the team when I say… this is more than we could have ever imagined!
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p>I am energized more by the solid numbers we accumulated on the South Shore, Cape & Islands and in the South Coast!
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p>These are organizers we take with us through the primary and if so lucky into the general – and I am proud to be a part of it.
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p>Disclosure: I proudly serve as one of Steve Grossman’s Regional Field Coordinators.
The Governors raise is a choice between tweedle dee, tweedle dum, and Deval Patrick one of the worst Governors in the nation. But luckily we have some really exciting progressive candidates in Grossman and Bump, their presence on the September ballot has convinced me to keep my registration in MA and vote in that primary. Also both Republicans running for those offices have interesting ideas and good shots at taking those offices so I expect a spirited campaign and issues oriented debate that will hopefully draw a lot of people to these down ballot races.
…do care to write a diary to explain why you believe Deval Patrick is one of the worst Governors in the nation? Seems to me there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
That might have been a bit harsh as I can think of several Governors that are worse than this one, perhaps worst Governor in New England is more apt?
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p>I challenge you to name three major campaign promises Deval has delivered on, I challenge you to name three major accomplishments of his first term. I challenge you to point out where he has stood up for progressives instead of the power brokers in the legislature. Where have we seen new politics, grassroots campaigning and block parties dictating policy in Beacon Hill.
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p>His gambling bill was ill thought and conceived from behind closed doors with no public input, and would have both broken a campaign promise against gaming as well as pass a massively regressive tax on the poor. He has favored developers over environmentalists at every turn. Insiders over grassroots. Corrupt indicted incumbents over progressive challengers. Spending cuts over progressive taxation. Hack appointments over competent ones. Closed door meetings instead of transparency. Failed to deliver property tax relief, failed to deliver local aid, failed to improve education, failed to create jobs. Now to be painfully clear I am completely unconvinced Cahill or Baker share any of my priorities or will do a better job. But his job record is not that of a progressive and anyone who says otherwise is lying or has given up.
CORI Reform
Funded public ed at highest levels ever
Ethics reform
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p>There’s more where that came from, but I had to respond since you just raise doubts which is always easier than affirmative argument. I believe he is actually one of the best Governors in the nation with a record to back it up.
I’m glad you landed another gig
Steve Grossman had a strong majority of Convention Delegates who were union members voting for him across the state. From the Boston Building Trades Council to the SEIU State Council and Machinist to UFCW they were voting Grossman on the convention floor.
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p>This Union support reflects Steve’s family business’ 50-year history as a unionized company and his strong support of workers as Chair of the State and national Democratic Party. Those of us old enough still remember Steve’s often one-man truth squad against Bill Weld and Weld’s assault on public and private sector workers. Steve Grossman earned his Union support with years of grassroot activity.
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p>Disclouse: My union has endorse Steve Grossman for State Treasurer and I voted for him at the Convention.
Just wanted to add my congrats to Steve Grossman and his campaign team for an impressive Convention win. More importantly, they have used the organizing effort around the Convention to develop a deep, effective grassroots network in every part of the state – exactly what we need to help Democrats win in November.
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p>Full Disclosure: I am a consultant on the Grossman campaign.
Does anyone know if Steve Grossman has anything to do with Camp Grossman. I’m wondering since Steve Grossman is very involved in the jewish community and Camp Grossman was run through the JCC.
I am a veteran of approximately 20 state conventions and I have never seen the level of organization that Team Grossman had. It is a great mix of bright, motivated young organizers and seasoned campaign veterans helping Steve get his message out.
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p>I spoke to several delegates who were undecided until they met Steve and heard him speak on the issues. They then became part of the 84.4%. On the labor side, one of the more inpressive things about Steve is that in over 50 years that his company has been a union shop, not a single labor issue has gone to arbitration.
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p>In response to ShillelaghLaw’s claim that we were “crestfallen”, I was part of the “trailer team” for Grossman. We were elated to win a huge majority. What you saw was a competitive sense of frustration at coming so close to a monumental victory that would have allowed the campaign to save valuable resources in avoiding a primary.
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p>Full Disclosure: I am a member of the Grossman Campaign’s field operations team.