Huffington Magazine Issue 32 | Page 41

WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES BREATHING FIRE a few conservatives try to figure out how to appeal to women. The point, Olsen explained to the largely white audience of about 50 or 60 people, was that the men in the cartoon kept talking over the one woman in their group. “What we saw in the video is the inability to listen. The video started off with six guys and one women trying to design a product for women, and none of them would let her talk,” Olsen said. HUFFINGTON 01.20.13 “The Republican Party has for too long talked at people rather than spoken with people. And I think that is one of the main sources of the disconnect.” That insight stood out as I spoke to key members of the Obama campaign’s senior staff in the following days. “Listening” to prospective voters had been a core value of the Obama campaign’s ethic — managers listened to field staff and volunteers, and trained Jeremy Bird is the deputy director of Organizing for America. He raised support for Obama’s health care initiative through his community organizing efforts.