I recently wrote an article titled Expanding the 50-State Strategy. In the article I put forth some new ideas for Progressive infrastructure to add to the 50-State Strategy. The poll was clear, 52% of people stated that they felt expanding Progressive talk radio was the number one priority. After working for over two years to bring back Progressive talk radio to Boston, we succeeded! So I decided on going with the second most popular, creating state-based MoveOn style political action committees.
As of September 2, 2009 Massachusetts became the first state to launch a new state-based MoveOn style PAC prototype. To be clear, this PAC is not in partnership, run by or in any way affiliated with MoveOn.org. I simply use the term to explain how the PAC operates.
MassProgress.org has a mission to create a platform for everyday citizens to participate in local & state politics.
We will be developing an easy to use system to keep people informed, engaged and up-to-date with what matters to them most. As action needs to be taken we will create campaigns to win and build a better commonwealth and most important, better communities.
Building and strengthening the state-based political action committees will take time. As long as we keep the information relevant, show progress and success and keep the PAC democratic (by regularly asking members for their input, ideas and allowing them to decide) we all will benefit.
Some of the basics...
Creating MassProgress.org was very easy.
The Steps:
Fill out a simple one page form
voluntarily go to a campaign finance training
A couple times a year fill out a campaign finance report online (they send you a reminder)
Setup a website (I used CampaignWindow.com for $15 a month with everything setup)
Promote the PAC (blogs, Progressive talk radio, PR in newspapers, direct mail, etc)
Keep members informed & engaged with weekly emails of important issues
The above steps do not include all the details but is intended to give a general overview.
If anyone is interested in starting their own state-based MoveOn style PAC please email me at MassProgress(at)gmail.com to learn more, ask questions or to get general help.