In response to a letter received via the ‘contact’ link on this page:
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Hi, [Kendall]!
I want to do more, too! 🙂
There seem to be two levels of activity at the moment: the outrage and resistance against the various current atrocities, and the long-term, deeper solution of winning future elections.
The outrage/resistance is being well represented by groups on Facebook, the Indivisible group, Michael Moore (I follow him on Facebook and do everything he says). I’ve joined some fairly radical groups on FB (I made an ‘outrage’ identity so I could really go radical while still maintaining a lower-key engagement on my regular page).
I’m on the mailing lists for all my senators and representatives now. I joined some organizations that I think will be critical in the short and long terms: ACLU, NAACP, NOW, Emily’s List. I’m watching left-wing sites like Daily Kos for recommendations about contested races where I can send $3. I don’t have cash to throw around (who does?), but I budgeted a hundred bucks for the year to donate to candidates in swing states. I’m following independent and investigative news sites like Mother Jones and the new Tarbell to get some news that’s not corporate sponsored.
I’m following state senator Daylin Leach’s website because he’s fabulous. He’s already run a ‘resistance forum’ in King of Prussia that was attended by 800 people. I’m going to his district outreaches whenever I can (the schedule is posted on his website). I want to know these guys as personally as possible, because that points me in directions of where to get involved to fight the power.
I went to https://swingleft.org/, where you can punch in your ZIP code and find out the nearest swing district. I picked two of those, and got on their mailing lists so I can go out and march or knock on doors, or drive people to the polls, or whatever they tell me to do.
I went to the local (Norristown) Montgomery County Democratic Committee meeting, which was awesome. After all, when the marching is said and done, the strategy still has to be to win the elections. I don’t know how they do that, or where my voice can be heard. So I’m going to those meetings until I understand. It’s been very edifying so far. Networking!
And I’m getting HUGELY interested in re-districting, which is how we got into this mess in the first place. There’s an outfit called Fair Districts PA (they have a website with a calendar, and an email list). They’re very involved in going around to places and giving talks on how to fight gerrymandering. Also, President Obama and Eric Holder have just started an organization that’s going to tackle the gerrymandering problem, so I got on their email list, too. That’s the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
And that’s where I stand at the moment. A lot of this is still being sorted out – the dictator’s only been in power for a week, after all, and the surprises just keep coming! Also, the Democratic party is a little in flux until the end of February, when they elect the new chair, who will establish the platform going forward.
In the meantime, though, I think those local Democratic Committee meetings are crucial. CRUCIAL. There are elections getting ready to happen right now – judicial and school board elections, mostly. Those judges are the ones who will be on the bench during the 2018 elections! So I believe the time to get involved with that is immediately. I’m in Montgomery County, so my meeting schedule won’t help you. Let’s see… your site in Delco is here: http://www.delcodems.com/
And it looks like you’ve got a fabulous event coming up on February 1: http://www.delcodems.com/event/yes-we-can-next-steps
If I were in Delco, I’d be going to that FOR SURE.
Good luck to all of us!
The Green Commons 