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You're wrong (0.00 / 0)

Anthony,

Sorry. You're wrong on this.

Online petitions, used by good online organizers, are great.

Example: At MoveOn, 10 local citizens often show up at a member of Congress's office to do a media event holding them accountable on some issue. 10 citizens alone are not usually newsworthy. 10 local citizens delivering petitions on behalf of 3000 local citizens -- newsworthy. It works over and over. And media stories are a great form of pressure.

Also, petitions are a great way for people to signal their interest in participating in a fight -- so organizers can then give them follow-up actions that will help move the ball down the field. (Like, delivering petitions to local congressional offices.)

But, what this takes is people RUNNING the petitions with a plan to win. (A theory of change, and a willingness to implement that theory.)

You're right: The DSCC petition sucked. It was dishonest -- or incredibly amateur. There was no real plan to win. And what I hate most about it is that it gets people like you to say, "Petitions are stupid" -- sullying online activism for the rest of us who actually want to do good-faith advocacy that is effective.

Adam

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by: AdamGreen @ Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 08:10:43 AM CDT

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