Resource Center

Introduction

“Missing from most accounts of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns to elect Barack Obama president is the story of how Obama for America organized 2.2 million volunteers into a grassroots army. Unlike many previous field campaigns that drew their power from staff, consultants, and paid canvassers, the Obama campaign’s capacity came from unpaid local citizens who took responsibility for organizing their own neighborhoods months—and even years—in advance of Election Day. This book describes how they did it. In a time of increasing cynicism about politics, how did the Obama campaign organize so many volunteers to produce so much valuable work for the campaign? Groundbreakers tells the story from the perspective of the grassroots volunteers and campaign insiders. Using data from over 70 in-depth interviews, 100 internal campaign documents, and months of participant observation, this book demonstrates how the Obama ground game was transformative in two regards. First, the campaign piloted and scaled an alternative model of field campaigning that built the power of communities as it organized them for an election. Second, the Obama campaign had a transformative effect on the individuals who were a part of it.

• “Describes in greater detail than ever before the structure, strategy, and practices used by the Obama campaign to engage and develop volunteer leaders
• Useful primer for academics and practitioners working in the field of campaigns
• As opposed to most books that focus on the money game in campaigns, highlights the importance of human resources within electoral campaigns
• Shows how the structure and strategy of an electoral field program can inspire and cultivate activism among volunteers” – Publisher’s website

Contents

• Chapter One: Introduction
• Part I: The Historical Roots of the Obama Field Program
• Chapter Two: The Way Things Were
• Chapter Three: Discovery and Diffusion
• Part II: The Nuts and Bolts of the Ground Game
• Chapter Four: Building Depth By Investing in Relationships
• Chapter Five: Creating a Structure to Share Responsibility: Neighborhood Teams
• Chapter Six: Using Metrics to Get to Scale
• Part III: OFA’s Legacy
• Chapter Seven: Reflection
• Works Cited
• Index

Access Resource

Order book

Groundbreakers: How Obama’s 2.2 Million Volunteers Transformed Campaigning in America (Book)

Introduction to Groundbreakers

Groundbreakers is more than a political history—it’s the definitive account of how Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign revolutionized civic participation in the United States. Authored by Elizabeth McKenna and Hahrie Han, the book explores how 2.2 million volunteers reshaped the idea of what a campaign could be. Their story illustrates the transition from old-style command politics to community-driven organizing. For readers within the Leading Change Network (LCN), Groundbreakers stands as a key resource for understanding how distributed leadership, personal narrative, and relational power turned a campaign into a movement.

A Campaign Built on Organizing Principles

Before Obama’s victory, most campaigns relied on transactional tactics—advertising, polling, and top-down messaging. Groundbreakers documents how the Obama field team did the opposite: it invested in people. Volunteers were trained not just to knock on doors, but to lead. They were encouraged to share their stories, form neighborhood teams, and build long-term capacity. This structure reflected the organizing philosophy outlined in the Organizing Obama Working Paper. By replacing “get-out-the-vote” with “build-community-and-lead,” the campaign created deep networks of trust that could outlast the election itself.

Distributed Leadership and Local Empowerment

One of the book’s central insights is that power multiplies when shared. Local teams had the freedom to organize events, recruit volunteers, and design outreach strategies that matched their communities. This decentralized approach mirrored the lessons shared in the Distributed Leadership in the Obama Campaign (MIT World Series Talk), where campaign staff discussed how trust, transparency, and autonomy fueled effectiveness. Groundbreakers explains that this model wasn’t spontaneous—it was designed intentionally. Each volunteer was supported through coaching, relational meetings, and continuous learning, creating a culture of accountability and purpose.

The Human Infrastructure of a Movement

The book emphasizes that the real innovation wasn’t digital technology but human relationships. While social media helped coordinate activities, the emotional core came from face-to-face organizing. Volunteers built relationships through storytelling, listening, and shared action—just as participants had practiced in Sandra’s Story of Now and Robbie’s Story of Now. These personal stories made politics relational, not transactional. They gave volunteers ownership of the campaign’s mission, transforming it from a project they joined into a movement they led.

Training the Groundbreakers

Training was the heartbeat of the campaign. Programs such as Camp Obama in Burbank and Chicago became incubators for leadership. Trainees learned the five core practices of organizing—story, relationship, structure, strategy, and action—the same framework taught across LCN programs today. Susan Christopher’s Story of Us demonstrated how these lessons moved from theory to practice, showing how a personal narrative could unite a room under a common purpose. Groundbreakers highlights that this consistent training culture allowed the campaign to scale without losing authenticity or discipline.

Data Meets Humanity

While the Obama campaign is often remembered for its technological sophistication, Groundbreakers reveals that digital tools were valuable only because they amplified relationships. The campaign’s data systems helped identify potential volunteers, but it was the organizing conversations—not algorithms—that converted interest into commitment. This combination of data-driven precision and values-based engagement remains a defining model for twenty-first-century movements. It showed how technology can enhance, rather than replace, human connection.

Lessons from the Volunteers

The 2.2 million volunteers chronicled in Groundbreakers were not political insiders; they were teachers, nurses, students, and parents. They came with diverse backgrounds but shared one belief: that democracy depends on participation. Their stories mirror the insights of the Political Organizing Series Write-Up, which explains how trust and relational commitment sustain action over time. Volunteers learned to see their communities differently—less as audiences and more as partners in shaping change.

Why Groundbreakers Still Matters

For organizers, Groundbreakers is both inspiration and blueprint. It demonstrates that effective movements require structure, training, and storytelling—not just enthusiasm. The authors show that large-scale participation works only when people feel seen and valued. This principle continues to guide LCN programs worldwide, from leadership training in the U.S. to civic education in Europe and Latin America. The book also challenges modern campaigns to measure success not only by turnout or clicks, but by the leaders developed and the communities strengthened.

Connecting Groundbreakers to the Broader Narrative

The Obama campaign’s story is inseparable from its narrative foundation. Each volunteer’s participation echoed the moral appeal introduced in Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Speech. That speech, centered on the Story of Self, Us, and Now, laid the groundwork for how volunteers learned to speak about hope, unity, and action. Groundbreakers captures how this narrative moved from podium to precinct, becoming the heartbeat of an organizing revolution.

Conclusion: A Blueprint for Future Organizing

Groundbreakers concludes with a profound message: campaigns end, but organizing endures. The volunteers who built Obama’s movement didn’t stop when ballots were counted; many continued leading civic projects, advocacy networks, and local initiatives long after the election. Their experience proves that when people are trusted, trained, and connected by shared values, they can achieve transformative change. For the Leading Change Network, Groundbreakers remains essential reading—a reminder that real power comes from relationships, and that every great movement begins with people who dare to believe that we can.