Toastmasters?? That's so last century, you say...so middle America. But consider this:
Toastmasters, which has trained 4 million speakers all over the world since 1924, has a great deal to offer those of us who wish to get better at articulating our progressive values in the public square. Last summer a fellow Dem and I started a new TM club in Vancouver, WA (suburb of Portland, OR) Progressive Voices Toastmasters. Several of our local candidates and precinct officers are members and they've found it invaluable. Now we'd like to see other clubs get started around the country.
If John Kerry is any example of how candidates express themselves, heaven help us! Furthermore, the radical right is gearing up: at evangelical colleges they're getting their student debaters ready for what Jerry Falwell calls
"assault ministry" -- More below the fold:
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