Buttigieg Bets on Friends-and-Family Tactic to Win Iowa Caucuses
- Relational organizing takes the stranger out of door-knocking
- Buttigieg campaign takes personal campaigning to new level
Jean Scigliano first reached out to her colleagues about Pete Buttigieg at the veterinarian’s office where she works.
Julie Klocke held a children’s party at a bowling alley with an eye toward winning over the parents. And after Ashley Kuckelman exhausted her inner circle of friends, she even got coffee with her ex-husband to talk about the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
When these women signed up to volunteer for the Buttigieg campaign in Iowa, they didn’t receive a list of phone numbers to call or doors to knock. Instead, they were asked to create their own.
It’s a campaign tactic called “relational organizing,” and those lists, they were told, should include family, friends, work colleagues, and yes, even, ex-husbands. It’s not a new idea but Buttigieg is relying on it to an extent never seen before.