Five Lessons from Obama's Campaign

Thinking Anew:
Five Lessons from Obama’s Successful Campaign

By Faraz Khan

As I pondered over the historical campaign leading to Mr. Obama's presidency, I thought about what I could learn from this election. Obviously there are many lessons for all of us and by now political pundits have delineated the essentials of the campaign.

Nevertheless, I wanted to pen lessons that the Muslim leadership and community could reflect upon from Mr. Obama's successful campaign. I want to be clear that I do not intend to confuse religion with politics. Yet I do want to study the organizational skills that brought change in American society. As a shrewd person once remarked, "How come we choose from just two people to run for President and 50 for Miss America?" I am not concerned with politics here. My goal is to observe the organizational wisdom and therefore communicate the message of Islam more effectively in the 21^st Century. Here are five lessons to implement change for good:

The Clear Message

Mr. Obama's message of change resonated with his audience. People paid more attention to the simple word "change" and were immediately motivated by the campaign. Other candidates also liked this simple concept but didn't build their message on a single foundation – rather they kept changing their lines and were not consistent. Obama's campaign slogan was simple and clear. The slogan motivated people to believe in themselves and gave hope for a better tomorrow.Muslim leadership can learn a great deal about focusing the message of their call. What is it that we want to convey to people? What is the motto of Masjid X? What is purpose of my youth organization? What is the focus of my Islamic school? The message has to be clear. People must not be confused with jargons or confused by the delivery of the message. Our community is very adept in recognizing melodramatic tones in Friday khutbas and fundraising speeches. Remember the brave claim of Mulla Nasiruddin. It was known that he once made an entire group of blood thirsty bandits to run in the desert. So some people inquired of the Mulla, how did you make these bandits run? Mullah said, "Very easy; I looked at them and they looked back at me, I ran first and then they ran after me". We should work to resolve the dilemmas with incoherent khutbas, lackluster fundraising speeches, bad sound systems, and lack of educational opportunities for adults and women at Islamic centers and schools. Fundraising speeches should not trump Islamic instruction. If things have been bad at your local masjid, join with others to change them for good.

Marketing Strategy

Another strong aspect of the winning campaign was to effective marketing and communication by means of technology. There were millions of emails and text messages that were sent to folks all over the country. The emails were not an ineffective barrage of "Dear Brother/Sister" but were rather addressed using then first name of the recipient. A real world example of a renowned Islamic organization and their marketing strategy will help us understand the existing problem. Whenever this organization held a lecture they sent me a barrage of emails. Although I never signed up for any e-mails, I received a storm of unrelated messages. It didn't matter if the lecture was being held on the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, or Canada; I received an email reading "Dear Brother/Sister". I wish they could personalize the email a bit and not ask me to fly coast to coast every week for lectures held by esteemed scholars and organizations. Thereafter, I decided to unsubscribe from the list and received a generic auto reply email that read:
"Thank you for emailing us. We pray this message reaches you in the best of health and faith. You have received an auto reply because we want you to know that your email is important to us. We receive hundreds of emails, letters, faxes, and phone calls every day from supporters throughout the world and we try our hardest to respond to every correspondence as best as we can, and in a timely manner. Although, it is our hope to be able to accommodate all requests, it may take us some time to respond."Needless to say that I continued to receive spam emails and have never received a reply to my request from the organization. My point is that we should have a marketing strategy to go along with the data we have collected over the years to advance the Islamic cause.

Befriend Technology

John McCain, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, and Barrack Obama all launched websites seeking contributions, selling merchandise, and offering the latest news and videos about their campaigns. However, Mr. Obama went a step further; his campaign not only reached fans through Youtube but also other computer savvy young voters through Facebook, Myspace, Mybatanga, Flickr, Linkedin, Digg, and many other online networks. These networks provided an impetus for many young people to become engaged. For example, on October 12, 2008 Facebook listed 3,105,875 of Mr. Obama's supporters and 528,046 comments. The campaign reached out to these young voters and got them involved. Perhaps the Muslim leadership and community need to look into creating a presence on these networks and reaching out to the dissident voices. There are many people spreading evil using technology. We can employ the same technology to benefit others.

Befriend People

Another great attribute of this campaign was the number of small donations from individuals. People were made part of the "Change" campaign. The campaign endorsed these words from Mr. Obama "I am asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington… I am asking you to believe in yours." People felt that Mr. Obama was listening to them and were willing to support this common cause. Instead of looking for large contributions, the campaign tactically utilized the Internet and mobilized workers on the ground to win over the common folks. Many candidates used the traditional method for money collection - looking for big contributions and time consuming fundraising dinners. While Mr. Obama, recognizing that times have changed, utilized technology and his excellent oratory skills to gain a clear edge on his opponents. The campaign received around $640 million from three million donors. I believe that Muslim centers and organizations do not have to look for a few hefty checks in order to build anything. The proof is in the pudding: Mr. Obama raised a huge sum of money from everyday Americans. Unfortunately, a major portion of the Muslim community - whether you call them Eid Muslims or Ramadan Muslims - is simply not tuned in. They are interested in Islam but not involved in building Islam. There has to be a plan to draw this population back to serving our struggling Islamic institutions. We have to chart a roadmap to welcome everyday common folks, make them feel that they are a part of the Ummah, and convince them that their contributions, no matter how small or big, are needed to bring success to the community.

Recognizing the Goal:

From the very beginning the campaign performed like a well-oiled machine. There were ups and downs - the campaign had to fight an uphill battle against false allegations, balance fundraising efforts, death in Mr. Obama's family, political satires, stereotypes - but the campaign continued nonstop, never diverting from the issues, reaching out to millions under the hope of positive change. There were no public incidents of campaign managers' infighting or shouting or publicly ridiculing each other. They did not accuse each other of fraud, mismanaging money, or indecent living. They were a team focused on achieving the goal - and they did it. In conclusion, this team impacted millions if not billions of lives around the planet as Barrack Obama won the presidential election on November 4, 2008.Dear Muslim reader, how long will it take for us to focus on our goal? Why is there so much infighting within our community? Are we not all part of the same struggle? Why are the organs of a single body working against each other? Why are the players on the same team struggling against each other? Why are we so disorganized and far away from our goal? Where is our list of priorities?In conclusion, I hope and pray that Allah gives us the vision to see, the courage to stand, and the will to fulfill our obligations.

By Faraz Khan for more articles and speeches by the author visit http://www.liberalartsforum.com