When we can take time away from reacting to Supreme Court nominations, fixing the disasters of the Bush/Cheney years of torture, restarting the ruined economy, etc., it's worth noting a new, excellent "how-to" book on pursuing progressive causes.
And not just pursuing them -- also how to win on them through various methods -- chiefly by building coalitions and relying on bipartisanship.
Kyrsten Sinema, Democratic State Legislator from Arizona leader has written Unite and Conquer: How to build coalitions that win -- and last. As the assistant Democratic leader in the legislature (ie, assistant minority leader), what she's learned is especially pertinent, since without support from across the aisle no effort she puts forward is going to pass. And she ought to know: she led the successful effort in Arizona in 2006 to defeat that year's ballot initiative to adopt a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
There's more ...
If someone is starting out in politics and wants to learn, from Kyrsten's experience, both how to fail at gaining legislative victories -- and (more importantly) how to succeed -- then this is a must-read primer. If you're not a beginner but want to be reminded or want to strengthen your skills at building legislative coalitions, then this is also a useful text.
Funny at times, this book is a well-written manifesto by an up-and-coming politician who's learning from her mistakes and her successes.
I was elected in November 2004 to represent...an urban district that cares about education, health care, and the environment... For the first several months ... I'd stand up 4 or 5 times a week and give scathing speeches about how this bill or that bill were complete and utter travesties of justice...and then we'd vote on the offending bills and they'd pass with supermajorities [anyway].
And so she learned. Taking a step back from her "bust" of a first session, she realized she'd been a bomb-thrower -- someone who chose to remove themselves from the real work of moving legislation:
I'd spent all my time being a crusader for justice, a patron saint for lost causes, and I'd missed out on the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with fellow members in the legislature, lobbyists... and I hadn't gotten any of my great policy ideas enacted into law...it was just plain sad.
The book goes on and lays out a blueprint -- a "new ethos" -- for how better to engage in politics -- with useful "bonus boxes" or helpful hints sections at the end of each chapter, such as on
* how to create coalitions that you'd actually like to join
* getting over yourself, and looking beyond identity politics
* making friends and finding common ground (even with strange bedfellows)
* grounding yourself in real data, fashioning messages, and sticking to them
* focusing on shared values, being willing to compromise on tactics and on your "ideal" outcome solution (though not on the values)
* being straightforward, honest -- and working hard and having fun
* and defining what "winning" means (mostly it means getting more votes than the other side, which sounds simple but sometimes we forget it).
Of course there's a lot more to the book than the above list, with detail on the "how-to's", and with specifics on some of the issues Kyrsten has fought and won on (and lost a few, too).
For instance, part of the book speaks of what Kyrsten learned from her successful leadership of the No on Prop 107 campaign, the effort in 2006 that defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. (I was hoping there'd be more on Arizona's unsuccessful opposition to Prop 102, the 2008 anti-marriage equality ballot initiative that, despite the first "no" in 2006, was approved by Arizona voters last November; learning from that loss will await a next book).
She also describes how she led the effort to pass legislation ensuring mothers can breast-feed their babies in public (a women's rights issue for some proponents, family-values for other supporters). She sets out how she and others succeeded in getting multiple viewpoints to coalesce around a new law on divesting state funds from regimes abusing human rights -- in ways that parties focusing solely on the bottom financial line could also support.
And she describes the coalition she built to fight an effort to take away Arizona's equal opportunity programs for women and minorities -- including by publicizing real-life stories of people who benefited from them and how this made the state a better place.
Former governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano wrote the foreword of the book. As a thrice-elected governor of a state where winning as a Democrat til now (this is changing!) has required Republican support, she knew well that succeeding in the legislative arena requires enlarging your circle of support -- it requires finding supporters from across the aisle. As the foreword states:
Kyrsten is one of the greateast characters in Arizona politics today, but she is also one of its least likely success stories. As Kyrsten explains, if you had met her when she first ran for the legislature, you would not have believed that someone so suspicious of those who disagreed with her, and someone with political beliefs so unconventional for Arizona, would help leave a tangible mark on the state's politics just a few years later. Anyone who has thought about getting involved in politics but then thought "I don't have the chance to do anything important" should pay close attention.
Both Janet Napolitano and Kyrsten Sinema point to the need keep remembering why you got "involved" in the first place, as that keeps you true to your basic values. But to succeed in the day-to-day legislative reality, you also have to find ways to work with your adversaries and to compromise. This is a fine line you have to walk -- but if it means success in the end, the book argues that this is a good path to success.
This book is worth learning from. It is a quick read at 172 pages, is easy to digest, and well worth the time.
A book-signing with the author is in Washington DC on this coming Tuesday, June 2, 5-6 pm in the exhibit hall of the America's Future Now! conference of the Campaign for America's Future (Omni Shoreham hotel).
The books have already shipped, and probably beginning around July 1 you can find one at your local bookstores (support them!). Or they're ready for pre-order off Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and other on-line sites. Here are a few links:
Amazon.com books
Borders
Barnes & Noble
Berrett-Koehler Publishers