I have learned so much since August when I sent my first campaign contribution ever to a presidential candidate.
I have learned that I know squat about politicians, campaigns, elections and how representative government actually works.
What little I have learned, I learned from you. dKos and its denizens have been my teachers and I can't thank you enough, but I still feel entirely too intimidated and embarrassingly ignorant to really participate. I suppose I could throw some money at a campaign. Or write some letters. Or some half-assed blog entries.
But I'd really like to educate myself and, if this were a non-election year and I didn't have to devote myself to looking for a job, I would never in a million years publicly ask for what I am about to now.
What are the best general resources for learning about modern U.S. politics available right now? Websites, magazines, books, documentaries, anything. If you had to teach a one-semester backbone course on modern American politics, what would the syllabus look like?
About me:
After 13 years at my company, I was laidoff/terminated/rif'd in March of last year when they outsourced about 85% of their IT functions. Predictably, I turned to the internet to look for a job and somehow tripped over Howard Dean. Whatever anyone thinks about the campaign he has run, no one can deny that he managed to bring a whole lot of political virgins to the party. I am one of them. And, I think, that is part of the problem: so many of his supporters simply knew nothing about politics and thought they could start at the top. If I zipped out $25 of my severance pay, why, then I somehow had a voice! I paid for my spot! Burlington perpetuated this myth and failed---miserably---to educate the community about the realities of a national political campaign. People who knew something about campaigns and elections were sidelined as "negative." We got emails---happy emails: "You gotta believe!"
I do believe. I believe I have the power. I have the power to educate myself to be an effective voice for change, hopefully in time for this election. And I am asking for your help.
Thank you.