Regular readers of C&E will have noted the coverage of how traditional field outreach is poised for a big comeback in 2024. But the question remains: What about field offices, which used to be a sign of a campaign’s organizing strength?
Far-flung campaign outposts, whether run by a coordinated effort or simply the presidential, were a staple before the pandemic. Even down-ballot races would look to establish a short-term store front, if only to centralize the distribution of yard signs to supporters.
Organizing has decentralized since 2020 with digital tools allowing volunteers to make calls from their homes to voters in neighboring states or even across the country. Many (older) practitioners believe that has been to the detriment of both volunteers and the organizers working with them.
For instance, they’re missing the energy of a busy campaign office. And when it comes to career building in this industry, they could also be missing out on networking opportunities as surrogate teams or senior staff roll through the area and get to know the local team.
Chelsea Peterson Thompson, general manager of NGP VAN, said the lack of campaign offices may have led to an attrition of industry talent as those who worked in ’20, or ’22 could have been turned off by the lack of personal connection with all-remote political work.
In 2020, she recalled in a recent interview, “I felt so heartbroken for all of the organizers had who had done all of the hard work of calling voters, getting them persuaded, making sure that they turn out to vote, getting them absentee ballots, persuading them to register in the first place in some case. And they didn’t get to celebrate in person with their other organizers and with their team.”
She noted that the feeling of camaraderie with campaign teammates was what helped her through tough races in the past. Four years ago, she added “I thought that how incredibly frustrating that must be to miss that experience — and then would you want to come back for 2022 or 2024 if it had felt like you didn’t have that deep connection? So I’m hoping that that returns in earnest in 2024.”
We’re already seeing plenty of signs that campaigns, at least at the very top of the ballot, are returning to ground operations that resemble pre-pandemic times when it comes to field offices. The Biden campaign boasted more than 100 field offices open as of yesterday with the campaign announcing the bulk of those office openings in key battleground states during the month of April.
For now, it stands in contrast to the Trump campaign, which has pushed back in recent days on the idea that the Biden campaign is far ahead on the organizing front. On a call with reporters last week, RNC and Trump campaign officials said the party is planning for the opening of field offices, and the hiring of stafs, in battleground states over the next couple of months.
