Yesterday, I was participating in the comments thread on nyceve's excellent diary on Dave Jones and it seems like a lot of people here have questions about how to get involved with the California OneCare campaign. Allow me to help you figure out how to do that.
Let's tackle the very easy and effortless things you can do while reading this very diary first.
"Like" the California OneCare page on Facebook. How does that help get SB 810 passed? It helps increase public awareness of the campaign and the chance that its message will go viral on the net by distributing the link through your network and the networks of your friends. This is especially true if you also click "share this page" and post the link to your wall.
Donate to the campaign. How does this help? We have to hire consultants to map out a competent statewide field plan, we need to hire organizers like yours truly to implement that plan, we have to get our ads on the air, we have to get field offices and phone lines set up within the next couple months. Plainly, we could really use whatever donation you can spare. Also, please notice that the donation form also doubles as a volunteer interest form! People like me will eventually be combing through those forms, adding tags to your names based on your input, and cheerfully calling your home once every three days and making you aware of opportunities to help out when the ground game gets rolling if you fill that out.
Write for the campaign blog. Do you have a diary on Kos that speaks to your personal struggles with the current health care system? Would you like to write one? Do you know someone who might? Send it over to our lovely and talented blog editor, Sylvia Moore, at sylvia@californiaonecare.org. These help us put a human face to the cause. Or, in OFA-speak, it allows us to present a "personal narrative" to prospective supporters. Bonus points: Forward it to the op-ed section of your local newspaper and let Sylvia know if it gets published.
"Like" California OneCare on the "Causes" Facebook application. How does this help? This essentially helps us turn supporting the campaign and increasing aware of it into a game. Do you know someone who pays a lot of lip service to politics and activism but never actually volunteers at a field office? That is, do you know a "slacktivist"? This is an excellent way to get someone like that to actually participate in the cause.
Now, let's go with community-based organizing.
First, do you go to church on a regular basis? If you do, the California Council of Churches is a partner in our state strategy group. Review this list to see if your church is a member. If you are a member of an affiliated congregation, please talk to your minister or church board and inquire how you can help them get the congregation engaged in the campaign. If you are a member of another religious body, please discuss this campaign with them and see what they may be willing and able to do to support it.
Do you belong to a union? Good news! Every union has a state political and legislative coordinator. Please ask your local union officials about how to get the local involved and who these contacts are.
Are you a member of the California Democratic Party? Good news! The Progressive Caucus of CDP is a partner with the campaign. According to the bylaws of the state party, the more chartered Democratic clubs a Caucus has, the more clout it has at the Democratic State Central Committee, which gives it more representatives and votes at the state convention. Adding a chartered Progressive Caucus club to you local Party roster would literally give supporters of OneCare even more votes at this spring's convention. This would also give you the opportunity to network with your local community's hardcore activist base in the Party. Please contact your local DCC and the Progressive Caucus for details on how to set up a club with your local party.
Do you like beer? Good news! The Beer Party, California Chapter is partnering with us to host OneCare Happy Hours all over the state. If you would like to help them organize these events with us--especially if you have a bar or brewery in mind--please register your interest at the link provided above.
Do you have a spacious home and lovely friends who also like single payer health care? Host a House Party! House parties are great on several levels:
1) They help us build both campaign infrastructure and awareness. What is "campaign infrastructure"? It's simply the human and logistical resources a campaign has available. For instance, if you're willing to open up your home to a party for us, chances are you'll be willing to let us stage canvasses out of your garage during GOTV weekend. Knowing who you are is therefore helpful to us.
2) If you have a computer and/or wireless connection at your home for guest use, this is an insanely easy way to hit up your friends for online donations.
3) These house parties can help us set up precinct-by-precinct neighbor-to-neighbor connections to build our precinct/OneCare Teams. That is why collecting and sharing your guests' contact info is important. Again, campaign infrastructure is key.
4) They associate the campaign with fun. Trust me, at the height of the campaign season, you will look at these events and long for them.
These are the main tips I have for now. Please feel free to comment below with your ideas, questions, and suggestions. Let's learn and work together.
Updated by Daniel Roche at Sun Mar 6, 2011, 11:58:50 AM
The diary originally stated that we were intending to pursue a ballot initiative in 2011. That was in error.