My Vote is My Voice Leader's Blog

Hello! This is Lois Herr, Democratic candidate for Congress in PA-16

Hi everyone!   My name is Lois Herr, and I'm the Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania's 16th District. 

In my view, policymaking in Washington has become severely disconnected from our sense of right and wrong.  Instead of caring for the least fortunate among us, we push the poor off Medicaid rolls and give tax breaks to those who don't need them.  Instead of investing in clean, renewable sources of energy and keeping the environment safe for our children, we pass out massive giveaways to oil companies.  And instead of considering issues of war and peace with the utmost humility and deliberation, we swagger into conflict unprepared and indifferent to the aftermath.  We can do better, and we must - we're all in this together.

I look forward to our conversation, everyone!  In the meantime, please check out my website - www.loisherr.us - to learn more about the campaign. 

Thanks!

Lois

Help Us Help San Diego!

Hello fellow activists!  My name is Amy and I’m an intern for EMILY’s List in Washington D.C., a political network for pro-choice Democratic women. I wanted to encourage you to join our efforts to elect Francine Busby in California’s 50^th (San Diego). This is a special election.  So this June 6^th the Democrats can take back a Republican seat!!! How can *YOU* get involved?? Join us and canvass around San Diego. Never canvassed before? Don’t worry, we will train you and give you everything you need to join in this exciting campaign! You’ll be knocking on the doors of Democrats, reminding them how important it is to vote. Take advantage of this incredible opportunity and get involved in a dynamic political campaign, gaining unique experiences and friendships. You can make the difference while having a blast! Sign up at: californiawomenvote.org. Go Blue!

Getting Involved with the Democratic Party

My name is Kate Donaghue.  I am a DFAer and a member of the Democratic State Committee in Massachusetts.  The Democratic Party wants people to get involved, both in campaigns and in the Democratic Party infrastructure.

As activists, I expect that the readers of "My Vote is My Voice" are involved in campaigns.  But are you involved in the Democratic Party?  Today I'm going to talk briefly about why you should consider getting involved with the Democratic Party and how to go about getting involved.

People new to campaigns sometimes don't see the reasons for getting involved in the Democratic Party.  You may believe that it is more time and cost effective for you to volunteer directly with a campaign, rather than with the Democratic Party. 

Campaigns are going out of business.  Win, lose or draw, they are coming to an end.  Even if a campaign wins, it will go into a dormant phase for a period of time.

A Permanent Campaign: The Democratic Party offers a place for you to stay involved after election day.  Building and maintaining an effective network of Democratic contacts is one of the most important reasons to become involved in the Democratic Party. Through the Democratic Party there is an organization and/or a network that can be placed into action each election cycle without having to organize anew each time.

Candidate Recruitment: The Democratic Party provides a basis for the all important effort of candidate recruitment.  As an aside, I began my adult political activism when Michael Dukakis lost the governorship of Massachusetts to a conservative Democrat.  It was then that I realized the right people don't get elected by accident.  It took me twenty years to realize that the right people don't run by accident.

Meeting Candidates: Potential candidates reach out to the Democratic Party infrastructure.  Active members of Democratic organizations are in a position to get to know potential candidates personally.  This access positions individual members to get to know candidates. The Democratic Party organization also helps candidates by providing a means for them to meet activists.

A Voice at the Table: Decisions of the Democratic Party are made by members.  From the local level to the presidency, the rules that govern our Party's nomination process belong to us.  People who are involved in the governance of the Democratic Party have a vote and a voice in creating the processes that ultimately determine who are our nominees, in establishing the platform and the direction of the Democratic Party.   

There are many other reasons to get involved.  I have highlighted just a few.

Thoughts?

Free Us From Economic Fear

Last month at DemocracyFest in Austin, TX, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. talked about the need for Democrats to work their agenda and messages around a theme.  As an example, Jackson talked about Voting Rights.

Later, it occured to me: Why not Economic Rights?   I have doubts that political freedom and voting rights will be enough to engage a lot of Americans, when there's economic fear.   Our constitution talks a lot about political rights, but, as President FDR pointed out, there's an economic side to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.   Rather than focusing on the mechanisms of voting and expression (e.g., The Patriot Act), should we instead be addressing as a theme Economic Security?  Or a kind of Economic Populism?   Health Care, Income Insurance, Global Competitiveness, Etc.

How do think Economic Rights might work as a theme for progressives and the Democratic Party?

No Wonder?

When we were young, adults asked (irrelevant) questions like “What is your favorite color?” and “Who is your best friend?” and “Who is the nicest teacher?” By the time we can vote, we have already asked the same kind of (irrelevant, even stupid) questions of others and, sigh, contributed to the fact that there is often “no wonder.”

  1. No wonder that so many consider the act of choosing as a strictly personal or local matter. Pulitzer Prize winner, David Hackett Fischer, described in his book, Washington’s Crossing, how difficult but symptomatic of the fledgling nation it was to coordinate revolutionary soldiers who had, variously, the “collective consciousness of New England towns, and the liberty-as-hierarchy among the Fairfax ([VA] men, [and the] liberty for African Americans [and] the backsettlers [of PA who] spoke of liberty in the first person singular: ‘Don’t Tread on Me’.”

  2. No wonder that we can hardly conceive of actually balancing powers so there is no one best or most important party or parent or branch of government or movie or right, that the (religious, constitutional, corporate, educational) worlds we occupy don’t always have to be pyramidal with room for only one at the top. 

3. No wonder that it is so difficult to prioritize relatively rather than absolutely so that we all end up with recurring identity crises because we “have to” choose one primary justification (as opposed to mere rationalization) for how we can support policies that both limit and extend States Rights. E.g., Federal regulations like “Leave No Child Behind” ignore important differences yet allow Intelligent (and unintelligent) Creationism to be taught on a par with scientific evolution. I fear this will create a bifurcated “red v. blue” educational system that undermines Thomas Jefferson’s idea of a free public (secular) educational system.

   4. No wonder that we so often forget the distinction between “power” and “authority,” between “sympathy” and “compassion, between “knowledge” or information and “wisdom.” My adult son has the power to take me out with one blow but he gives me the authority to advise him because he sympathizes, i.e., shares certain views about compassion for fellow human beings with whom we totally disagree - like not wishing President Bush would be trampled by a herd of ANWR caribou despite having no faith that, notwithstanding his recent acknowledgment that global warming may exist, he has the will or wisdom to act constructively for the long-term environment.

 It is, however, wondrous that one person I know did indeed wonder about all the above and figured out how to balance activism with an active life and an active mind (echoing the subject of an earlier MVMY blog). Last September, Merrill Skaggs, the Baldwin Professor of Humanities at Drew University specializing in American Literature, decided to make as much of a political impact as she could despite her hectic schedule.

 Pondering what Mark Twain said, “Morals, religions, politics, get their following from surrounding influences and atmospheres, almost entirely; not from study, not from thinking....A man's self-approval, in the large concerns of life, has its source in theapproval of the people about him, and not in a searching personal examination of the matter.... broadly speaking, Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is Conformity.” 

After considering many factors – personal, pedagogical, political – Professor Skaggs contrived a game plan that was, not untypical of her style, playful, provocative and somewhat perilous. That is, she made it a course requirement that students not just read about American life but that they participate in it. That is, they must enter the voting booth. That is, voting itself was not required (much less voting for a particular candidate) but registering to vote was mandatory.

In other words,  the students regarded her as "a common cause," if not an outright enemy and rallied themselves out of apathy.

In her own words, Merrill explained, “My logic was that the community Drew students cared most about was made up of other Drew students. My job was to make them talk and argue about the election enough to create a climate of opinion I trusted my colleagues on the faculty and their own propensity for debate to help them create for themselves. I first asked the faculty to join me in requiring them to vote. The faculty desisted. But in the ensuing faculty email debate, the TIMES got wind, the TV NETWORKS followed the breeze, and the ensuing publicity kept the students comparing notes and arguing. The results were that 88% of the students voted. Their consensus at the end is indicated by the fact that 78% voted for Kerry in a Republican county, in a school with a Republican ex-governor for President.” 

Liberal colleagues decried her treatment of students’ “freedom” but delighted in the result. I can only cry, “Yippee!!” though, admittedly with far less enthusiasm had the result gone the other way.

 

Outreach or Reaching Out?

OK, you've been at those meetings. You know the ones I mean, where everyone is sitting around wondering how to attract "People of Color" or "Diversity" or "Constituency Participation" and not knowing how. There are 10 or 30 or 90 of you in the room. Now you remember, right? Well, we talk for a while and a few people have ideas, but months go by and the composition of the group changes little. Some members leave, new members start, but the "E (ethnic) Component" is unchanged. What to do???

Simple. Just remember what Howard Dean is fond of saying: "You Have The Power!"

Yes, that's right. YOU have the power to reach out to those communities, to participate in THEIR meetings and activities, to engage in THEIR communities. Want to have a better sense of what "minorities" need, want and feel? Well, then, BE ONE! With 30 of you in the room, you can easily target 10-15 new groups you can participate in and help. They used to call it Community Service. We call it Grassroots Activism. Get Involved. Stay Involved, and next time you get together, you'll have plenty to talk about to your own group! Too simple? Not really. It works for us in Marin, California. It can work for you at Anytown, USA!

I bet you can think of a few Unions, School, Church, Guild or other civic groups you can feel at home in. And don't forget to wear your "Progressive" buttons!

Learning to Frame

Have you changed the way you discuss or market an issue to your constituency or even your friends/family? 

Framing the issue seems to be the hottest topic amongst Democrats today.  George Lakoff is largely responsible for this discussion.  If you haven't had a chance to pick up, Lakoff's book, Don't think of an Elephant, you can get a feel for it via a video recording of a session in San Francisco, http://www.gracecathedral.org/forum/for_20050123.shtml.

Let us know what you think of Lakoff's ideas.

Progressives Ready to Tackle Hispanic Outreach

MViMV Guest Blogger: Nathan Gonzalez, Political Director of Latinos for America

I attended the Progressive Democrats of America Summit in Washington, DC determined to address the need for progressives to reach out to more people of color.  As Latinos, we are often asked to take for granted that progressives will fight for our rights when Republicans won’t.  But the last two presidential cycles have shown that if Democrats are indeed fighting for the Hispanic community, they have a hard time enunciating it.  The Hispanic media and field outreach deficit on the part of the Democratic Party in the last eight years is a symptom of a larger problem that needs to be addressed: People of color are simply being taken for granted.

                        

Continue reading "Progressives Ready to Tackle Hispanic Outreach"

Root Camp Training

ROOT CAMP UNVEILED

Pam Paul of Progressive Democrats of America, Nathan Gonzalez of Latinos for America, and Joe Magid of Grassroots for America unveiled the concept of Root Camp^TM this Friday at the Progressive Democratic Summit in Washington, DC.

Root Camp is the product of hundreds of hours of thought, preparation and research. It is the grassroots solution to the challenges faced by progressives in seeking to establish a permanent, 50-state advocacy infrastructure that will function on and off election years.

The Root Camp training is based on the staple Latinos for America training, hailed as one of the most effective training programs for activists, campaign managers and candidates in the country.  In addition, Root Camp incorporates the Grassroots Mentor Program,^TM which will produce trainers in the local community, and help bring about a level of self-sufficiency for the activist communities it reaches.  Grassroots Mentors will incorporate the skills they learn, and help tailor them to the needs of their state, county, and city.  Grassroots Mentors will become part of a national community of trainers that will have continuous access to information and information-sharing tools, keeping their local training programs current and dynamic.  In addition, Grassroots Mentors and other trainees will be connected to the message framing tools developed by the progressive Rock Ridge Institute.

My Vote is My Voice, Grassroots for America, and Latinos for America, invite you to take part in Root Camp at Democracy Fest 2005. 

The goals of Root Camp are the following:

1)     Honing the skills of grassroots activists, campaign workers and campaign managers.

2)     Introducing potential candidates to the essentials of running for office at any level.

3)     Training Grassroots Mentors to establish a permanent skills-development infrastructure in their community.

4)     Establishing a dynamic, national community of trained, effective progressive campaign managers, precinct leaders, activists, organizers and candidates.

Do you want to bring Root Camp to your city?  Contact Nathan Gonzalez at nathan@latinosforamerica.com.

Meetup Outreach

On the MViMV Main Blog, a commenter (Agatha) stated,  we need to outreach our Meet-ups to places and neighborhoods that aren't "techie." Every single time I go to a Meet-UP, whether it's DFNYC or NDM, I find myself amongst white, middle-class people. This has to change. I think we should flyer low-income neighborhoods hard and anticipate one person showing up, with the hopes that in the next month, more people will trickle in. And, I think information/activism has to be a 2-way street: DFA needs to go in as pupils first and foremost and then teachers.

Here are some suggestions if your Meetup attendance isn't a reflection of your community.

1.  Select a venue that:

Is accessible to public transportation.
Is child friendly.
Doesn't require participants to bring money.

2.  Advertise to the population that you are missing.  Post flyers in neighborhood libraries, shops, retaurants, and laundromats.

3.  Recruit respected individuals in the community to help you market to the population that you are missing.