Hello everyone,
I just wanted to post this quick diary to point out that we are looking for volunteers to help make the DailyKos-created People Powered Polling project a reality. For those of you who don't know what this project is, here is a not-so-brief explanation:
See the initial discussion of the idea here.
The idea behind "People Powered Polling"
One of the biggest obstacles to local and second-tier national candidates in this country is the lack of funding they possess. Our political system is such that the most basic of campaign activities require a financial investment well over the budgets of most small campaigns, which has for year acted as a buffer against real challenges toward entrenched incumbents. This barrier has kept countless candidates away who might otherwise have brought good representation to areas under the control of career politicians with little or no real interest in their constituency. This has to change.
The most notable example of this problem is that of reliable polling, which has in the modern era been a tool relegated to the high-budget campaigns with national support and interest. Without the means to do even the smallest of benchmark polls early in the election season, most challengers have no way to convince their parties, or their potential constituency, that they stand a chance. The logic has always been that the only way to gather scientific, respectable polling data was to use an established polling firm, and the only way to do that was to find a way to pay the thousands of dollars necessary to field the poll.
This has to change.
Howard Dean has inspired us all with his call for a 50 state strategy to bring the Democratic Party back into power, not only in 2006, but as leaders for the future. But this is a movement that will require the active engagement of candidates in every race, not just those targeted by the traditional strategists. While resources are obviously limited, there is a responsibility to provide every candidate, no matter how local the race or uphill the battle, with the means to win on Election Day. The solution to this problem lies in the ability of organizations such as your own to help act as a conduit between the harsh realities of running a competitive race in every district, and the limitless opportunities presented by truly people-powered politics. That is what People Powered Polling is all about: Bringing free solutions to local candidates, and helping to ensure that every campaign can take the first step toward victory, regardless of their budget.
What "People Powered Polling" Means
The key to bringing a cost-effective solution to smaller campaigns lies in allowing them to work with the resources they have available to them already. In the case of polling, this means assuming that the traditional approach of hiring a polling outfit is out of the question. For too long this has been the end of the road for campaigns in terms of fielding a poll, but there is no reason this has to be so. This is where people-powered politics steps in.
There is no reason why small campaigns can not field their own polls using volunteers from their campaign. Twenty people making phone calls in the evening or on weekends with their free minutes could very quickly gather enough information to publish the results. The problem has always been in the inability to convince prospective donors that this polling information was reliable. We are trying to change that by giving campaigns a system by which they can properly design and implement a polling system. By creating this open-source project, we hope to give campaigns a resource by which they can enter doors that were up until this point locked tightly.
What We Will Do
Our plan is as such:
We will establish a one-stop resource for campaigns looking to field a poll in their district. This will take the form of a website, wherein the campaigns can find information and tools to help facilitate the polling process.
The main resources available initially will consist of a user-friendly and accessible "Handbook," which campaigns can download and print out in order to learn how to field a poll properly. It will consist of instructions on every aspect of the polling process, and will in simple language lay out the details of accurate, scientific polling for their district.
There will also be forums where candidates and campaign representatives can share their tips, and discuss their polling experiences, helping to establish a knowledge base to serve other campaigns.
Finally, there will be archives for polling information gathered using the People Powered Polling system, allowing campaigns to share their results, and gather attention for campaigns throughout the country.
The project will ideally render a "package" that campaigns can download and use to fuel their polls. This will be an open-source project, and thus the package itself can and will expand as people add their insights into the established system. In addition, there will be room for computer software, statistician tools, or any other form of assistance that could help campaigns make their polls successful.
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Well, we already on our way, with the website officially launched, and the content starting to flow in.
That being said, we still are looking for people to help author the "campaign handbook," which will serve as the backbone of the project's initial package to campaigns. It will contain a step-by-step system by which low-budget campaigns can gather reliable, scientific data using just the power of people and a genuine ambition to win.
So, do you think you have something to offer?
First: Please send an email over to peoplepoweredpolling@gmail.com to get added to our email list, where you can be part of the ongoing discussion of the project.
Second: Go and register with the website. This will allow you to be a part of the project, and you can then contribute stories and poll data on behalf of your favorite candidates.
Third: Help the Project! For the next week or so, anyone who registers with the website will be made a 'handbook editor,' by which they can edit and add content to the handbook. This will be an open source project that will be reflective of the Daily Kos community, and I hope we can make it something that we all will be proud of. Don't think you can offer anything directly? You can still comment on each page of the book, to offer ideas or guidance in the content creation process. This is people-powered politics: Everyone has something to offer.
That's it! I hope this diary can get some decent face-time, because I would love to have the website fully functional in the next week. Feel free to tell your favorite candidates about the project, and try to convince them to join us in making a better, stronger democratic process, and Democratic party.
Thanks again,
--Yoss