Having local offices in key communities within our Congressional Districts and larger cities is a fundamental thing we could all be doing to coalesce our efforts across the country right now.
WHY DO OFFICES MATTER?
From what I’ve seen, offices make a lot of other things possible and/or easier.
-A stronger sense of community among Democrats in their area
-More visibility in the community (obvs)
-Provides a place for activist groups, candidates, member and committee meetings, lets people know, especially in Red areas, that we exist and we’re not going away. The networking among these people is what ends up helping us find good candidates, push legislation, work locally.
-Wi-fi is key to so many parts of grassroots work and it isn’t free.
-It makes people feel a sense of belonging and gives us snowflakes a safe cozy space :)
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
-We can try to open a lot of offices before the end of the year. Be ready.
-If you’re active with your local Dems figure out how much $ it takes you per month to have an office open, set a goal for when you want to open it and start raising money and looking around for space.
-If you’re not active, go to a meeting, talk to the elected leaders and tell them you’d like to help them get an office open as soon as possible, where can you fit in?
-Be loud at your CD and state conventions...let party leaders know that $200 a month goes a long way in a crappy ass strip mall and that little place will be full of heart by GOTV time.
-Be diligent in managing our local Dem money. Find out how to stretch those dollars.
I wish more money would flow down from the national and state parties, we got a decent amount last year during summer and fall, if that could be spread out longer it would really help. But ultimately for it to be done right we all need to act on the ground in our communities to find the best places in our towns and neighborhoods to rent, get some signage so people see the Dem message in town, gather our people to staff it and raise the money to keep the lights on. And put pressure on the state parties to send that money down to us.
If you do get an office open earlier than expected, or in a new place write a diary and tell us all about it :) We just had our Annual Dinner and raised a lot of money that will help open our 3 offices next year. Love to hear how other groups are doing.
Fuck the GOP!
Have a great weekend!