Welcome. This is the inaugural edition of the Florida Kossacks Open Thread Diary (FKOTD). The purpose is to help the netroots in Florida to get connected and coordinate our activities coming up to the big election of 2008. You don’t have to be from Florida to join in, just interested in getting those 27 electoral votes in the "D" column.
So make the jump with us.
I’m going to talk about a lot of things, so if you know what you want to say, feel free to float on down to the comments any time you want.
I’m going to say "email me" a lot tonight. That address again:
floridakossacks (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.
As most Florida Kossacks know, the first edition of our on-line magazine about Florida Politics, Turning Florida Blue, was posted Sunday. Hope everyone enjoyed it. I’ve had some very nice feedback about it. Thanks.
If you have a suggestion for an article for the next edition, email me or post it in the comments. If you would like to nominate an existing dkos diary (whether your own or someone else’s), or an entry from another blog, do the same.
Let me mention two projects I’m working on:
An FK FAQ – List any questions you might have in the comments.
How the netroots and the Florida Democratic Party can work together to rebuild and reform the party organization throughout the state in 2007. Suggestions would be appreciated.
In the comments to meowmissy’s diary on Friday about setting up a FloridaKos Yahoo group a reader expressed confusion about what appeared to be a lot of different signals from various Florida Kossacks.
I want to expand a little on my response to him.
First, Turning Florida Blue is the name of the on-line magazine, but, I had also intended it as a dkos brand name for the coordinated efforts of the Florida netroots. In doing so I was distinguishing myself somewhat from GatorDem’s brand name (Florida Kossacks). I think that was a mistake and helped lead to some of the confusion. I’m going back to GatorDem’s original name as a brand for the whole endeavor. Other people were never comfortable using TFB to signify everything, and it sets a bad precedent. The history of the progressive movement is littered with splinter groups. If we want the FDP to be inclusive, we have to practice it ourselves.
Now, to explain our system . . .
GatorDem spends a lot of time on Daily Kos and acts somewhat as a sweep to pick up dkos posters from Florida. His email list is used to alert people to diaries posted by members. Many people would see that as shameless self-promotion, which it is. If that’s a turn off to you, then definitely don’t contact him about getting on his email list. But, if you would like 10 to 20 people to show up when you post a diary to recommend it and make meaningful comments, then contact GatorDem at gatordem (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
GatorDem’s blogsite is called Florida Kossaacks. He cross-posts his diaries from Daily Kos there and invites others to post or cross-post there. If you would like to do that, I’m sure he’d love to hear from you. I use the site to post previews of important diaries that I need other people to see and comment on prior to posting here on dkos.
FLA Politics is a Soapblox powered blogsite that predates our group. I discovered it in my early efforts trying to acquaint myself with the blogosphere. It has a reputation for its nicely written summary of Florida political news that is posted on the Front Page daily. It’s much more sedate than Daily Kos and doesn’t even have recommended diaries or tip jars.
I began by cross-posting pieces there and then expanded into posting original blogs strictly for Florida consumption. The owners liked my work and gave me Front Page privileges. I have encouraged others to post there and constantly link to posts on the site when emailing various people.
FLA Politics gives us an opportunity to post and discuss items in a less hectic, Florida only venue. I’ve found it to be very valuable and encourage others to check it out. Over the weekend I asked Boofdah to cross post her Sarasota anti-war protest photo diary there and then promoted it to the Front Page so that we wouldn’t miss out on the experience.
I edit our on-line magazine about Florida politics called Turning Florida Blue, which is posted here at Daily Kos. As mentioned, the first issue came out Sunday. The magazine is used to attract attention both inside and outside Daily Kos. Other purposes of the magazine are described in this diary. I have begun discussions with someone with the intention of sharing and then turning over to them being editor. I’m definitely not in this for glory or power.
I posted a diary called The Plan on FLA Politics which describes my vision for building the netroots in Florida. It contains several elements. Based on my experiences so far, I would update them as follows:
• Start a Florida Kossacks Open Thread Diary Series on Daily Kos in order to attract attention of like-minded people. Recruit a few dkosoholics to alert other posters that appear to be from Florida about the OTD Series
• Develop higher visibility for the Florida blogosphere with an on-line magazine about Florida politics and a concerted email-with-link campaign to the MSM, FDP, and politicians
• Track the voting records of Republicans in state legislative and US congressional districts to use against them
• Promote a rift in the state Republican Party and isolate right-wing ideas from the general population
• Promote netroots candidates
• Connect with each other through a chat group, email, and personal meetings
• Develop connections with state Democratic party elements along with other action groups
Other people may have their own vision as to how things should work, or think mine needs some changes or additions. If so, please share them with us here or in a diary.
Meowmissy has created a FloridaKos Yahoo group. She has stated the purpose is to: share our diaries with each other, discuss ideas for getting more Democrats elected in our state at all levels of government, network and get to know each other, build a Florida Netroots. The group is new and we are all awaiting to see how it may develop over time.
I created a Google Group which only I can post to but anyone can join that will be used as a mailing list to announce the eminent posting of a new issue of the magazine and to alert people to upcoming action events.
And finally, there is this continuing series of open thread diaries. I have also been discussing with someone the possibility of them taking over the regular posting of these.
All these elements comprise a method to allow coordination and flexibility in building the netroots in Florida. If you know of any thing else that we could do or use, let us know.
I’m interested in compiling a database of Florida Kossacks that includes congressional district, state house district, and state senate district (the information on your voter registration card). Mine would be 2, 9, 3, or Allen Boyd (D), Loranne Ausley (D), and Nancy Argenziano (R).
I think it would be good to group fellow kossacks by congressional district and try to connect people up in preparation for 2008. Those of us in safe blue CDs can concentrate on other things. Those with a Republican congressional representative can help identify viable opponents and help track and publicize the voting records of their representative.
In publishing diaries we need to make sure and use the dkos tag system for congressional districts. For instance, I put the FL-08 tag on my diary about Ric Keller. We also need to create tags for the state house and senate districts.
I am going to suggest FL HD-xx and FL SD-xx for these. For example, I have gone back and added the tag FL HD-03 to my diary about Dee Dee Ritchie. This will allow those of us who want to concentrate on state races to keep track of what’s going on in them.
If someone wants a nice project to do I would suggest writing a series of diaries that list all the Republican held state legislature seats similar to what Progressive America did for the congressional districts.
Okay, that’s definitely TMI, so let’s get to the comments.