Grassroots Campaigning
You can’t get much more grassroots than having kids run your political campaign. Maybe that’s why mine worked so much better than any of the professionals thought it would. Instead of coming up with spin, the kids focused the campaign around a message they truly cared about—the importance of voting. And they showed that you really don’t have to be a millionaire to stage a viable campaign. With heart and hard work, we really can make our country by the people and for the people.
Of course, having to reinvent the wheel with each campaign just doesn’t make sense. I learned a lot of lessons about what worked and what didn’t the hard way. In this blog, I’ll share ideas that worked for me, along with great ideas and resources I’ve come across. I want you to do the same. So whether you’re already involved in grassroots politics or just considering jumping in, please send me an email about what’s working for you or someone else. People are doing great things all over the place. My hope is that this becomes a hub where that information gets shared, thereby empowering us all to become involved in our government.
Before I even share any of the ideas that worked for me, I want to point you to Sean Tevis’ campaign for State Representative. With a funny and salient cartoon, the Kansas information architect has raised the funds he needed to mount a viable campaign by asking for contributions of just $8.34. Talk about grassroots! Check out: http://seantevis.com/kansas/3000/running-for-office-xkcd-style/.
Whether or not you’re a Barack Obama supporter, the action guide on his website provides great information about how to structure political events. You’ll find information on http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actionguide.
Training is critical when you’re running for office for the first time. How else are you going to know what to do? In my case, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (http://www.planevada.org/) taught me many of the running for office basics I was unaware of. If you’re a pro-choice Democratic woman, Emily’s List Political Opportunity Program (POP) “recruits, encourages, supports, and trains pro-choice Democratic women who are thinking of running for office for the first time, as well as incumbent officeholders facing tough challenges,” according to their website http://www.emilyslist.org/programs/pop/. “POP also helps elected women chart careers that will put them on the path to leadership, either at the state level or in Congress.”
In Oregon, the Bus Project mobilizes thousands of volunteers and activists around the state to achieve its goals of hands on democracy and electing “the best progressive candidates in Oregon swing districts.” “We drive votes, drive leaders, and drive change,” claims the website at http://busproject.org. The program also offers “a political boot camp and a year of service for young activists itching to test their leadership skills and make a difference.”
VOTE
"The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. [For] to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body." -- Warren Buffett