People on this site and virtually every political activist spends almost all of their time hyper focused on DC politics. But this is a horrible strategy as it leaves out state and local politics which are much more important.
Don't believe me. Ask yourself these questions
Would congress have passed HCR if it wasn't for the Massachusetts law passed a few years earlier which it was modeled on?
In 2009, Obama signed an executive order raising fuel economy standards and cutting GHG emissions for cars. Would this have happened without higher fuel economy standards passed by states like California?
Would Barack Obama have supported marriage equality if it wasn't for earlier victories in Washington, New York and other states?
Local policies influence state policies, and state policies influence federal policies. We have a long history in the US of states and municipalities leading the way on issues from child labor to legal abortion, to women's suffrage.
State and local victories provide the foundation for political movements by giving hope and momentum. In addition, they give progressive senators and congresscritters a concrete example to point to when trying to move similar legislation at the national level.
While activism is important on the federal level, you can have a much bigger impact on the local and state level. State and local politicians represent far smaller constituencies and are easier to influence. In addition, many states are far more liberal than the US as a whole. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State are all very liberal states with democratic trifectas.
These progressive states with democratic trifectas often lead the nation on many issues, but there are many areas where we can push ahead further.
-Colorado and Washington state will have ballot initiatives on legalizing pot. Both state democratic parties support these initiatives and they have a shot at passing if we work hard to fundraise and volunteer for the campaigns. If you're tired of blacks being thrown in jail at a rate 6x that of whites, privately owned prisons sucking tax money from schools, and drug cartels terrorizing Latin America, it's time to get on board with these referendums because the federal government certainly will not lead on this issue.
Colorado legalize
Washington legalize
-Vermont became the first state to pass single payer health care last year. California came within 2 votes of passing a single payer bill this year, but failed when 6 blue dog democrats refused to vote for it. One of those democrats is being challenged in the primary by Paul Butterfield.
-Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington will all be voting on marriage equality in the fall. After so many losses at the ballot box, its about time we had some victories on marriage equality, and all of these fights are winnable. Each of these states are safely in Obama's corner and with enough volunteers and campaign cash, they can all win.
These elections and referendums are all important, but if we want to build a progressive movement for the long haul, it has to go beyond elections. Occupy has shown that protests can change the political dialogue, and Obama's first term showed that simply electing democrats is not enough to have the kind of monumental changes that are necessary in this fucked up society we live in today. If we began using this site to organize issue based protests targeted at local and state politician, we could push forward with stronger labor rights, a carbon tax, and single payer in the blue states while preventing or minimizing crazy right wing laws in the red states. Once we move forward on the state and local level, we can begin taking our government back on the federal level.