Starting Off Easy
Before I gas on more about my evolution in activism or start the long and complicated discussion on figuring out our true calling as activists, I thought I'd let you in on some fairly simple ways you can work for change.
Join MoveOn and True Majority
These two groups allow you to be a political activist from the comfort of your computer as well as occasionally informing you of opportunities to do more. They do a good job of picking some of the most important and timely issues and organizing group e-mailing to congress (you can e-mail your congressperson or Senator with just a click of the mouse- they even write the e-mail) They also organize call-in campaigns and will send you the # to call and give you notes to use in your call. These groups send far less e-mail than most of the single issue or candidate driven lists I'm signed up with and they seem to be more effective.
Give Money to Candidates or Propositions
You don't have to be rich to donate. You can donate $5 and it still will help- especially if you ask 5 friends to also donate $5. Of course donate more helps more, but seriously if all you can afford is $5, go for it. You'll be surprised at how much more involved giving even a little will make you feel in the process.
Don't limit yourself to candidates you can vote for. Representatives in Congress affect your life no matter what district they come from, so you have a right to help a good candidate from any district or state.
A truly good grassroots candidate to donate to is Jerry McNerney.
Not only is the real deal - no corporate ties, a renewable energy expert, and someone with more integrity than I ever hoped to find in a politician, but he is running against one of the worst and most powerful people in congress: Dick Pombo. Pombo is evil. Pombo has been voted #1 enemy of the environment by several environmental groups. He was also voted one of the 12 most corrupt members of congress (I think he actually made the top 5...and that's no easy task nowadays...you've got to really work at it...and I'll give the guy credit, he does)
If you are worried about California becoming the next Florida or Ohio (and you would not be crazy or alone in that worry- this is one of those times were there probably actually *is* a conspiracy) then you'll want to make sure we have a good Secretary of State. Debra Bowen is the perfect person for the job. She has much knowledge and fights the good fight. I hope that after she terms out at Secretary of State, she will become the first woman governor of California.
There are of course other good candidates who can use your money. Find someone who you feel really good about and support them. Write about them here.
Do not, I repeat, Do NOT send money to the DCCC or the DSCC. If you do, you are letting the candy-ass insiders decide who is worthy of support. These are the people who will most likely support Lieberman even if he loses the Democratic primary in his state, because they'd rather stick with what they know than change things for the better or even win the frickin' majority.
The DNC is actually doing some good things with their money now- I'm not saying it's all perfect now that Howard's there, but they are setting up 50 state strategy that could turn the party around. So if you don't want to pick a candidate, but would rather help the party as a whole, then they're the ones who should get your money.
If you'd rather give to an issue than a candidate, I would recommend Prop 89
the clean money and fair elections act. No matter what your cause, clean and fair elections will make things better.
Giving to single issue groups tends to be less effective for those causes than giving to candidates who support a broad range of progressive and populist causes or giving to a proposition that will actually change something if it passes. The single issue groups tend to be stuck in the 70s strategy-wise and that's why they've been losing ground. I'm not saying they don't deserve to be funded or they don't do some good, it's just that the evidence seems to show that part of the reason the right-wing has been more effective at pushing forward their agenda is that they do it through electing people that support them rather than giving money to lots of different single issue groups.
Start Now
Never let the fact that you don't feel like you can do enough stop you from doing something. Every little thing you can do helps a little and if a lot of people did a little bit more, a lot more would get done.
posted by Laura D @ 7:17 PM
5 Comments:
Huh. Clearly I'm giving my money to all the wrong groups. Must think about this.
I made spiced blueberry gelato last night/ this morning. Maybe that'll help me think.
If you have causes you give money to, it's probably not going to waste. I give to several charities, but I check them out with www.chairty watch. org to see how well they mangage their money and I also choose groups that do more than lobby.
Until our govt. fund social services, these groups still need funds to pick up the slack. However I know that if we can take back the govt. so that social programs will be funded, these programs can get a lot more money than I could ever donate. So I'm not saying don't give to charity, but do so wisely and understand that unless we also change our govt. nothing we give is going to be enough.
The DCCC and DSCC are another issue. Often they use their money to maintain the status quo and frankly, I'm not so thrilled with the status quo. A lot of people give to these groups figuring that they know best where the money should go in congressional and senate races. The fact is if these people knew best, we would have a majority in both houses right now.
Hey Laura!
I did get the email about your blog, sorry I'm just now saying hello. It's just so damn hard to keep up with the my life outside of work with this damn graveyard shift.
Anyways, good luck with ye olde blog. If you decide to do some sci-fi/fantasy pop culture stuff let me know. I know some folks who are fans, and would probably love to read what you write as well as chime in.
Oh - don't forget that it's not necessary (at least in my mind) to either make long, substantial posts or nothing at all. I for one would love to hear about it anytime you're doing something activist-wise, even if it's just a sentence or two. First, because I think it'd be inspiring to others, and second, because it keeps me up to date on what's going on in the daylight hours. The only activist things I get to do these days are on the computer, and even that's limited.
Hope you post again soon to let us know how and what you're doing!
-Skay
On a related note, Paul Krugman wrote an editorial today, Centrism is for Suckers (sorry, you probably can't read this, as it's part of their paid content).
Basically, he's saying that it's all very well for groups like The Sierra Club to support individual members (e.g. Chafee) who vote for the environment, but if they're Republicans, THEY won't be leading the Environment and Public Works Committee. The anti-environment Inhofe will. So, it might be tough if there were an anti-environment Democrat vs. a pro-environment Republican, but the important thing is to change who's running the place. Which makes "non-partisan" or "independent" just another way of keeping the Republicans in power. Depressing though that may be to those of us who value fairness and compromise - they don't, so we can't.
Hey Skay!
Good to hear from you!!! Thanks for the reminder to keep posting, I needed it to get over my writer's block.
Diane,
The same point was made in Crashing the Gate, by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (the MyDD and Daily Kos bloggers). Now and Naral often support pro-choice republicans over pro-life democrats, but in the long run, pro-choice republicans tend to be more likely to support Bush's agenda, including his pro-life court appointees than pro-life democrats. So in the long run it often helps the cause more to vote yellow dog democrat in the general election. Of course in the primary I'm all for ousting the DINOs (democrats in name only) and getting new progressive blood in the party. Hopefully Tuesday will show Lieberman that real democrats are sick of his playing lap dog to Bush and Co. Go Ned Lamont!!!!
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