Organizing to Win

05/13/2026

To build a multi-racial democracy, our campaigns have to do more than win. They have to build power.

Even our mobilizations and political campaigns can have organizing elements.

Here are 10 ways to make your campaign about more than winning.

1. Intentionally create opportunities to build relationships among volunteers, members, activists, leaders, candidates, decision-makers etc.
2. Collaborate with the storytellers instead of extracting their stories.
3. Disrupt white supremacy culture.
4. Continuously look for new leaders.
5. Share hot takes when it's strategic and cool takes when it's not.
6. Identify the issues that are most widely and deeply felt in a community.
7. Don't be a savior.
8. Add an open-ended question to the canvassing script. (The questions in a canvassing script are not always about extracting data from voters.)
9. Remember that if you're not doing one-on-ones, you're not organizing.
10. Ask: how does this campaign build our power even if we lose? (Credit to for this question.)

Organizing is bringing people together to build power; we're just using the opportunity of the campaign to do it.

Campaigns are not just about winning in November, passing a bill or toppling a greedy CEO. They become a means to a bigger end. That bigger end is a redistribution of power.

What's your favorite?

What's missing?

05/04/2026

Ready for the midterms? Four explainers about campaign mysteries might help.

Check 'em out at https://organizingtowin.substack.com/

03/31/2026

It's time for another installment of "What did they think would happen?"

Trigger warning: there are some pretty nasty quotes below.

What did they think would happen when:

Trump announced that he wanted the Central Park Five to go back to prison even though they were completely exonerated?

He justified his supporters' assault on a Black man at a Trump rally: “Maybe [the protester] should have been roughed up.”

He said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country" and called Mexican immigrants rapists.

He instituted a ban on people from Muslim-majority countries because. . . they are Muslim.

It's not just Trump.

Nikki Haley blamed Barack Obama for creating racial division.

Ron DeSantis strong-armed the Florida Board of Education into a new set of rules that justify slavery: "[enslaved people] developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Marco Rubio blamed Charlottesville protestors for the violence that killed one of them.

But wait, there's more:

Vivek Ramaswamy called Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Author Ibram X. Kendi, “modern grand wizards of the modern K*K.” (At least he thinks the K*K is bad??? I mean . . . )

Fanning the flames of hatred and oppression have gotten the Republicans a lot. Now they're complaining about it?

I'm not saying Trump or the Republican party created the white supremacy culture problem but they definitely capitalized on it and made it worse.

Here's a gift link to the full story: https://wapo.st/47Jqte7

03/12/2026

Just three days left to vote for Netroots Nation sessions. And I hope mine get two of your votes!

https://bit.ly/PowerOfOrgMoney

What happens when an organizer, a funder and a development director walk into a panel? They share ideas for talking to funders about long-term, fundamental organizing.

https://bit.ly/RaisingMoneyCallTime

Does your candidate do everything they can to avoid call time? But not these panelists. They'll spill the tea on how they learned to do the two things our parents told us not to do: talk about money and talk to strangers.

Alt text image # 1: a photo of Mira, a middle-aged white woman with salt and pepper hair gesturing to a Netroots Nation banner behind her, smiling and holding a mic. She's wearing a white shirt, black sweater and jeans.

Alt text image # 2: A gradient green background with white letters that read Building the Power of Organized Money: What the Right did Right and a short link https://bit.ly/PowerOfOrgMoney There is a starburst that reads Vote Now! in blue.

Alt tex image # 3: A gradient green background with white letters that read Raising Money - Call Time: The 2 Things Our Parents Told Us Not to Do! and a short link https://bit.ly/RaisingMoneyCallTime There is a starburst that reads Vote Now! in green.

03/03/2026

It's out! The latest edition of the Organizing to Win newsletter covers why I hate protests, a belated happy birthday to Frederick Douglass and a request to vote for my Netroots Nation workshops.

https://organizingtowin.substack.com/p/true-confessions-i-dont-like-protests

Alt text for link preview photo: A selfie of Mira, a white woman with shoulder-length salt and pepper hair, in front of a crowd protesting against ICE. Over her face are the headline "True Confessions: I don't like protests. Strategic collective action? That's better. Mira Weinstein (she, her, hers)"

Strategic collective action? That’s better.

02/06/2026

TL;DR - please vote for my sessions at Netroots Nation this year!

https://bit.ly/PowerOfOrgMoney

https://bit.ly/RaisingMoneyCallTime

What am I talking about? Keep reading.

ICYMI, Netroots is the largest progressive organizing and campaign conference in the US.

I submitted two proposals for panel discussions this year.

1. Building the Power of Organized Money: What the Right did Right is about how to talk to funders about long-term, deep organizing. The kind of campaigns that take five years, don't produce reams of pretty numbers and won't win the next election.

2. In Raising Money - Call Time: the 2 Things Our Parents Told Us Not To Do! thre panelists will talk about how they cracked the code on call time. Most campaigns will raise most of their money by calling people and asking for it. And most candidates hate. Call time. With a passion.

You can vote for both of my sessions even if you're not going to the conference. (Yes, another password. 🙄 Last time, they did *not* flood voters' inboxes.)

Here's how:

1. Click on one of the links in the comments.
2. Click on the "Vote for this Submission" button.
3. Log in or create a new account.
4. In the "Confirm your Selection" Box, check the "I'm not a robot box."
5. Do the (sometimes) annoying test if it comes up.
6. Click "Confirm Vote."

To vote for the other session, click on the other link, or click on "Netroots Nation 2026 Gallery," and search for my last name in the search box. (Somehow, it doesn't like my whole name.)

I don't get any notifications and can't see the votes, so come back here to comment if you're able to do it.

Thanks for your help! 🤞🏻

PS. If you submitted proposals, post them here so we can all vote for them!

02/04/2026

"What I really appreciate about this piece is that none of your answers are symbolic or isolating."

- Aw. . . thanks for noticing.

Do you get one of those panicked calls every time you-know-who does something reprehensible? (You must get a lot of calls.)

If you have the same panic or your phone is blowing up with texts and calls from members who who are tired of knocking on doors and writing checks, check out the latest Organizing to Win Substack for 5 actionable alternatives to traditional campaign work that actually build community power.

https://organizingtowin.substack.com/p/what-do-we-do-about-this

Alt text: 4 people at a party, seated on a couch and chairs, all looking toward the front of the room. White text on top of the photo reads "What do we do about this?? Without knocking on doors or sending money."

12/02/2025

I'm not great at hot takes. This month's Organizing to Win newsletter is a cool take on the 2025 elections.

Also, a poll on topics for the newsletter next year. I'd love to have your input!

https://open.substack.com/pub/organizingtowin/p/cool-take-on-2025-election-results?r=2tc5pw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

PS. You can subscribe there too! Organizing tips and stories. Once a month. Straight to your inbox. No spam.

I’m not much for hot takes.

11/08/2025

Remember a while back when the governors of certain states grabbed immigrants off the streets, stuck them on buses and planes and deposited them in Chicago, Martha's Vineyard and on the street outside the Vice President's residence?

What if we returned the favor?

Let's deliver all the guns recovered in the buy-back to Texas.

Back the truck up to the Capitol lawn and empty it. They love guns so much. Let them have them. We'll show about the same about of care and preparation as they did.

Probably more. It's Texas. The guns probably have more rights in Texas than the people.

https://lnkd.in/gr8M9FDQ

OC Supervisors are hosting a countywide gun buyback event Saturday in Garden Grove, where gun owners trade in unwanted fi****ms for gift cards.

11/04/2025

Organizing strategy defined.

Check out the October Organizing to Win newsletter to fill in that blank look you get when you talk about organizing strategy. (I get it too.)

Plus, if your feed, inbox and the news are giving intensity vibes you don't want, this month's reading rec is for you. No deeper meaning. No lessons for our times. No warning of impending doom. Just a fun read.

https://organizingtowin.substack.com/p/organizing-strategy-defined?r=2tc5pw

Alt text: A head shot of Mira, a Gen X white woman with salt-and-pepper, shoulder-length hair in a ponytail. She's smiling and wearing a turquoise sweater and white shirt and has her arms folded across her chest. Across her photo letters in white read "Organizing Strategy Defined Plus, a great read with no deeper meaning." A quote next to her reads "We don't have power when we win elections. We win elections when we have power" are next to her.