Bottom-up politics is the only thing that works. It worked for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012, starting with small house parties and people-to-people contact and it's worked for the GOP over the last 40 years in taking over our local communities and statehouses. And after the President practically channeled my DailyKos diary from May 2010, where I called state and local politics "unsexy but completely necessary", I've decided that relaunching that weekly series makes good sense. Not just because it matters, but because more people outside of the GOS are realizing it matters. And DailyKos is, among other things, a great outreach and educational tool; a way for the politically engaged to reach the less politically engaged outside this blogspace.
So here goes. We're going to relaunch this thing starting today.
State and Local Politics has been a passion of mine for some time. Most of you know about Bold Blue Media, the state and local services and training startup my husband and I launched here in May 2013 and about the magazine that fuels our ability to affordably serve candidates and cause campaigns at the state and local levels. Some of you also know that I started the State and Local Action Group here on DKos right after DK4 launched in 2010. So you know this has been a long passion of mine. I think the time has come to harness all these resources and couple them with the power of the DailyKos community to really effect the changes we know need to happen.
I believe liberals, and the Democratic Party have a unique opportunity right now. The GOP brand is in the toilet. More people, regardless of where they live, are awakening to the unfairness and inequality in our democracy. More people than I can remember are becoming aware of how state politics directly effects their lives. And more people are finding themselves aligned with liberal values, sometimes when they don't even realize it.
This is our time.
So this is the announcement. The rebirth of the weekly state and local politics series. I hope you'll join the other 400 or so Kossacks who are following the State and Local Action Group and share all the diaries that are posted to it, strategically. If you would like to be an editor of the group, so you can post and approve state and local political diaries for publishing, please let me know so I can enable it. (And please be a tad patient because I seriously HATE that messaging/permission interface and never seem to quite figure it out on the first try).
Every Saturday morning*, I'll be posting a diary here with short, shareable videos like these (below) that recap a interesting state and local stories. The idea is to create an easy mechanism to inform mostly apolitical folks about the things happening in state and local politics and to help them understand its importance. I will try to include action links or items when applicable and explain things in ways that regular folks can apply to their own lives and their own communities/states. Please share the videos as this is one of the best ways we can help average voters understand just how important this stuff really is. Voter education is the first crucial step to getting our side out to vote.
Mississippi and Obamacare
Another Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Passed
Voter Suppression and Intimidation Reports from Texas Primary
I participated in a panel discussion about Texas' Voter Suppression during the primary on Tuesday on the Social Spitball Show 3/6/2014.
Quit Smoking in New York!
If anyone has any more ideas for the weekly diary, (besides the videos), please let me know. I'd like to include grassroots video too, shareable stuff (maybe from events or whatever) that will help us reach apolitical people in a meaningful way. I think a link roundup might be nice - but there's so much going on...and I have a lot of responsibilities with the business, so I'd need serious help with that. Any more ideas?
TOGETHER, FORWARD!
* Please vote for the day you prefer. I am debating between Friday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning or some other time. Let me know what you think is best.
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Here's a nice shareable video with a powerful message submitted by Crashing Vor! Please share this ya'll.