Organizing

Obama’s the One: Are You Really Surprised?

I’m not. Call me smug, but I’ve been saying since Barack Obama’s 2007 announcement of his candidacy in Springfield, Ill., that he would take the Democratic nomination. At the risk […]

I’m not.

Call me smug, but I’ve been saying since Barack Obama’s 2007 announcement of his candidacy in Springfield, Ill., that he would take the Democratic nomination.

At the risk of sounding like the pre-shock-and-awe Bush/Cheney chorus, it was a simple matter of connecting the dots.

Unconvinced?

Read David Moberg’s great Shelterforce piece on Obama’s formative organizing experiences in Chicago, and you’ll see it all laid out right there: how Obama gained the tools he’d need to complement his natural gifts as a leader. The seeds for his victorious primary climb and clinching of the nomination germinated in the streets of Chicago.

About the Author

Alice Chasan

Alice Chasan served as editor and associate publisher of Shelterforce from 2007 to 2008.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Two people with paper bird masks hold dollar bills. One wears a sign that says "Rent stabilized apartments generated billion in net income for landlords last year."

    Are NYC’s Rent-Stabilized Buildings Really in Crisis?

    • Roshan Abraham

    June 24, 2026

    A two-year rent freeze, affecting about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in New York, was just approved. Before the freeze passed, landlords said their buildings wouldn’t survive it. But recent analyses suggest the real culprit behind distressed buildings is predatory equity, not rent stabilization.

  • A large, colorful mural painted on the exterior of a building. It says "WELCOME TO NOHO" in capital letters and depicts people of different ages, genders, races, and ethnicities dancing and playing music in front of different types of housing and community buildings, including apartment buildings, a health and fitness center, a theater, and a gallery. The building is set back from a public sidewalk, and part of a tree shades the right-hand side of the mural.

    How State Coalitions Are Advancing Community Ownership of Housing

    • Leo Goldberg
    • Miriam Zuk

    June 19, 2026

    In recent years, housing coalitions promoting community land trusts and real estate cooperatives have formed in multiple cities and states—and they are achieving results. Nonetheless, a lot of work is needed to achieve the policy changes these groups desire.

  • A webinar screenshot of three people. In the top-left corner is a white man with gray hair and dark eyebrows; he is wearing headphones, glasses, and a checkered shirt, and his background is blurred. In the top-right corner is a Hawaiian woman with dark hair; she is wearing glasses and a black t-shirt, and she is set against a screensaver of a tree-lined field. On the bottom is a white woman with brown hair; she is wearing a green floral top and large earrings, and she is set against a screensaver background of the earth viewed from space.

    What Does a Solidarity Approach to Housing Look Like? A Shelterforce Webinar

    • Steve Dubb

    June 10, 2026

    In this webinar, we examine what a solidarity economy approach is, what its principles are, how these principles are being applied presently, and how they might be applied more broadly to support housing justice and transformative economic change.