First a nod to Adam B's diary, Stop the Meta and Get to Work.
When you go to an actual job, there is a boss/manager/supervisor telling you what to do. But when a blogger admonishes you to do something, the natural question is: "Do what?" The beauty of this wonderful series of tubes is that we can all do our own thing. The problem is that unorganized activity can be more of a liability than an asset in politics.
I know you all want to think for yourselves, question authority, do your own thing, be independent, maybe blow up parliament, and fight like hell to build a liberal paradise.
I'm here to tell you the world doesn't work that way.
If you like that hopey, changey thing and want it to continue, then we will need to reelect Democratic majorities in the midterms. Now you are saying:
No shit, CW. So what can this lone blogger do?
Thanks for asking.
It gets frustrating when a diary ends with a call to action limited to "donate to X." Sure that's important, but how rewarding is it to kick the equivalent of a drop in the bucket? While it is true that the Left Side of the Internet™ is an effective ATM, giving $25 to a Senate candidate you have never met is not very empowering.
To put it more frankly, the blogosphere will never replace traditional campaigning as much as we want it to do so. A square peg does not fit through a round hole and traditional campaigning will not be replaced by blog posts and Twitter updates.
So here are a few tips for electing more and better Democrats.
Turn off the damn computer already. Look. I know the health care bill could have been better. I know we are still in Iraq. I know whoever is nominated for SCOTUS will not live up to your expectations. I know Joe Lieberman is a bag of dicks. Guess what. The only people who care are the 10,000 or so people who comment here everyday.
Write a letter to the editor. Surprisingly enough, people still read dead tree editions of newspapers and some papers even put their letter on their websites. If you want to persuade someone, try talking to someone who is persuadable. Elections are all about two things. You have to persuade some people in the middle and convince your supporters to go out and vote. You are meeting exactly zero of those two goals by posting here. If you want to crosspost, we'll take a look at it but chances are very low that your diary here will make much of a difference.
Volunteer for a campaign. Here's something that will come as a shock. The US Senate races are not the most important thing going on right now. If you really want to make a difference, start smaller. I'm thinking State legislatures, city councils, mayor, and maybe US House races. You might even know some of these people personally. Ask if they need help. Then in two years you can approach your Congressman/woman's campaign and bring some experience. In 1995, the census bureau estimated that there are more than half a million elected officials in the country. That a ratio of about 1:616. I'm sure you can find a race to help. Remember, most of the state legislature people elected this cycle will be redistricting.
What can you bring to the table? So you don't think you can contribute in a meaningful way. I have news for you. There is always something to do. Knock doors, make calls, fund raise, learn how to calculate DPI (pdf), enter data, create an online strategy. If a campaign turns away your help, they will be losing anyway and not worth your time.
Run for office yourself. Again, you probably will not be a member of the US House or even the state legislature. Start more modest. Think school board, town council, or local advisory commissions. If you are posting here, you can fund raise here. Convenient. You might also find someone (like your humble diarist) who knows something about writing a campaign plan.
What if you live in a really conservative district? So you live in Georgia's 9th Congressional District, which has a Cook PVI of R+29. Sorry about that. I've got nothing. Maybe you can become an advocate for more fair redistricting.
GOTV. Get out the vote. Here's another little secret. The teabagger contingent is really not that scary. The current CW is that the tighty righties are fired up to vote and the moderate Democrats are demoralized. That's self-fulfilling prophesy. We can't do much about the GOP motivation level. We have to focus on our own efforts and stop the "oh woe is us" mentality. Talk to your friends, family, and community. Trust me when I say we can do this. The Democratic Party activists need to recognize that national elections happen every two years, not every four years.
Join your local party organization. This can get really idiosyncratic. Some are exclusive clubs not keen on new blood. Others are full of jerks as one Kossack reminded me recently. Some are nonexistent. I know some folks who basically founded a Democratic Party apparatus in a heavily Republican area. If you have a decent local organization or start your own, this is a great way to make a difference on all of the points I have already made. I wrote this comment yesterday:
Kos (in Taking On The System) related a story about a younger couple who wanted to join the local Dem chapter. This was a group of like five or six of the same people who have been meeting in the same church basement since approximately The Great War. This group could not get anything done because one guy kept making parliamentary points of procedure -- for a freaking local party organization.
These are the obstacles you will encounter. The point it is that it is absolutely critical that we build and maintain local party organizations.
Keep donating. The reason we have so much money in campaigns is that television advertising is so freaking expensive. I could tell you all about the GOP primary from 2008 in which the winner spent $20,000 and the top three losers combined to spend $4 million. That is an anomaly. In New York City, a single point on TV costs more than $1000 (average) and a campaign probably needs a minimum of 600 points a week over the course of about eight weeks to be effective. You do the math.
But, CW. I want to keep bitching on Daily Kos. Fine. Whatever. But if you are not out campaigning for someone, I don't want to hear any complaints when President Obama is dealing with a House and Senate full of Republicans rather than negotiating with moderate Democrats.
Update: via gchaucer2...
Talk to your neighbors. I live in a relatively conservative district -- but Connecticut conservative, not Southern conservative. I've talked to lots of folks over the last several months. Many of whom are conservative or just plain not interested in politics. They are all interested in their situations, however -- job losses in a former manufacturing town, immigration (lots of South American immigrants here), infrastructure, health care, etc. Lots of common ground if one deletes lightening rod vocabulary. Of course, our local teabaggers -- of which there appear to be 8 die hards -- are totally deaf and ignorant.
And another from RLMiller...
(D)evelop contacts in the DailyKos community, with elected officials, and with traditional media.
If you write a diary praising a somewhat obscure Dem bill, send it to the Representative sponsoring the bill. They'll be delighted to see evidence of grassroots support. Send a diary bashing a Republican bill to the Rep sponsoring it, but don't expect to develop friends :)
If you have a contact in the traditional media, send that person a diary needing further investigation. Sometimes "I'm from the Smallville News" opens more doors than "I'm a blogger."
And, of course, contacts within the DailyKos community are best of all :)
I can't agree more. Sure getting bloggers to take common action makes herding cats seem easy, but this really is a great community. I have met more than a few online activists in real life and I'm always surprised at how much of this they are already doing.
And from blue jersey mom...
Make sure that your kids vote. A big part of the Democrat's success in 2008 was the millennial vote. Don't let your kids sit this one out. I have three adult "children" who will be 26, 24, and 18 in November. I will make sure that all 3 vote. I will also encourage my youngest to re-register in PA when he goes to college, since his vote in PA is more important than his vote in NJ this year.
Your turn. What are you going to do this fall?
Crossposted on Progressive Electorate
