PA 09 Rural America—It's Time to Put Boots on Ground!

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Tuesday June 19, 2007 · 3:50 AM PDT

2007/06/19 · 03:50

I said it earlier but I really believed at one point that I was the only Democrat in the county. The sad part is that just about every Democrat that I've talked to in the last couple of years felt the same way at some point. Worse yet, there are registered Republicans who are either progressives at heart or more progressive in their views who don't know that Democrats exist in the county. They are Republicans because their parents were Republicans. And they, like John Prine noted, "...voted for Eisenhower because Lincoln won the war."Again repeating myself, don't tell me the numbers. I know the numbers. Forget the numbers. As long as we continue to focus on present voter registration and past history, and use these realities as excuses for inaction, we will accomplish nothing, This is defeatism, and I won't stand for it

So, what do we do? Do we deepen (engage with people who have similar views but who don't vote) the electorate, or do we broaden (engage with people who have different views than we do aka Blue Dog Dems) the electorate. I believe that we must deepen the electorate. We must use the netroots to organize grassroots leaders who must in turn mobilize the voters. Laura Flanders had a great article in The Nation not too long ago. In it, she argued this point. I, of course, couldn't agree more, but how do we do this? We need to do at least three things. First, as has been pointed out by many people including Michael Moore( In Stupid White Men) and Markos and Chris Bowers (In Crashing the Gate) , we must get involved in the local Democratic Committees. Second, we must reengage with natural allies such as labor unions and anti-war groups. Third, we must form alliances with groups that should be our allies but with whom we have done little such as family farmers and small business groups.

My congressional district encompasses all or parts of 15 different counties. The county Democratic Committees in these counties run the gamut from well-oiled machines with serious get out the vote efforts to committees that have 11 people come to a meeting two times a year. In my own county prior to the 2004 election, there were only 20 people coming to the monthly meetings. In order to defeat Bush and get Kerry elected, people came out of the woods to form "Blair for Kerry". After the election, many of the members of this group got involved with the county committee. As a result, meeting attendance now numbers 70 people, we have new leadership, we are recruiting new committee people, in 2006, we put forth a get out the vote effort, and we now have an office on a busy street. The committee has a long way to go, but it is taking steps. The point is that needed change will not occur unless YOU get involved in the local Democratic Committees.

Next, we must reengage with natural allies. Whether it is standing on the picket line or protesting the war, we must show on the local level that we care about the same things and that we are going to DO something about these concerns. For too long, Democrats have taken for granted union or anti-war support, and as a result, these groups are either voting Republican,not at all, or are not working with us on voter mobilization. We must rebuild our bonds with our natural allies.

Finally, we must reach out to other groups. Farmers and small businesses are being run roughshod by Republicans. Both these groups have serious problems with health insurance and energy prices. To varying degrees, they also have concerns regarding education and infrastructure not only roads and rail but also access to broadband. We must join Farm Bureaus and local Chamber of Commerces. Going further, evangelicals have been written off by the Democratic Party, but concern for the poor, social justice, global warming, the genocide in Darfur, and other issues are now reemerging as concerns for evangelicals. These are issues the Democrats have always cared about, and we must reach out to these groups.

Now that we have engaged with all these groups, we must take the next steps. In a society where half those eligible are registered and then only half of those vote, we must work with these groups to engage in community outreach and voter registration. We must educate people regarding all issues and we must register them to vote. To do this, we need to go door to door knocking on every door with our message. Nothing says to a citizen that we care like a visit to their doorstep. It is extremely personal, and it is powerful. Yes, it can be tough, but if it was easy, we wouldn't have to do it.

I believe that the Progressive movement must be about the people and issues that are important to them. Candidates are important. We need a name on the ballot to vote for, and we need people to do work while in office, but I don't believe that the campaign should end on election night. It might peak in intensity, but the campaign for real change in this country must continue to be on-going.

Again, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this matter. I will be presenting at the Take Back America 2007 conference in Washington D.C tomorrow, Wednesday, June 20, at 11:30 am. I hope to see you there.

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