(No time to let up now! - promoted by Paul Rosenberg)
Simply incredible. In 24 hours over 200,000 people have signed our Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) petition to MSNBC demanding they put Keith Olbermann back up on the air.
If you haven't heard the news, MSNBC suspended Keith without pay for gasp, donating to three Democratic candidates this cycle. As @TheShannonFiles tweeted:
I think they picked a bad time to fuck with the Progressive movement. We're a little pissed off.
Meet Katrina Swett. That’s her on the right. Why are we talking about her?
Well, the Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s open congressional seat is just 4 days away, and it’s neck-and-neck.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has endorsed bold progressive candidate Ann McLane Kuster, who is running against Joe Lieberman’s presidential co-chair Katrina Swett. Kuster and Swett met in a big debate Wednesday night, and Swett attacked Kuster for being the "very progressive candidate," saying, "The country is moving away from the more left, progressive point of view."
Seriously? Attacking a Democrat for being progressive in a Democratic primary? Swett’s attack is all you need to know about the type of Blue Dog she’ll be in Congress.
Hey everyone, this is Levana Layendecker with DFA and Jason Rosenbaum from the PCCC. Together again and better than ever.
You can't seem to turn around lately without someone asking us about the 'enthusiasm gap.' It looks like Democracy for America and Progressive Change Campaign Committee volunteers didn't get that memo, because our 'phonebombs' for key challenger races across the country are going great. When bold progressive candidates stand up, our members will stand with them. The exciting news with our new virtual phone bank technology is that even if you live in a place where you don't have a progressive Democrat to volunteer for, you can still talk to like minded voters and in key districts -- and help bold progressives win.
In recent weeks, DFA and PCCC launched the first in a series of phonebombs (virtual phone banks) for candidates around the country. So far, volunteers made over 17,000 calls for David Segal -- a progressive super star running in a primary for Patrick Kennedy's open House seat in Rhode Island against 3 uninspiring hacks. Folks have also made thousands of calls for Ann McLane Kuster -- a pro-choice bold progressive running in New Hampshire's 2nd district against Katrina Swett, Joe Lieberman's 2004 presidential campaign co-chair and a big supporter of Lieberman against Ned Lamont in 2006.
For a congressional race, these numbers are huge! And we are just getting started. Both of these bold progressives have primaries coming up on September 14, and DFA and PCCC have multiple phonebombs scheduled between now and then.
Let's show the pundits that there's no "enthusiasm gap" when it comes to bold progressives who actually stand on principle. Segal and Kuster are passionate advocates for the public option, holding Wall Street accountable, protecting Social Security, and getting corporate money out of our elections.
A small amount of your time, making calls from home, can help elect them to Congress -- sign up here.
These conversations are really making an impact. Here's what some recent phonebomb volunteers had to say:
"These are meaningful contacts. Many voters are just starting to pay attention... Let's do this from now until election day. This is a GREAT use of resources. 10k contacts in one day is HUGE." -- volunteer for David Segal
"I was pleased to turn around so many voters. These calls are worth the effort!" -- volunteer for Ann McLane Kuster
"All in all, it was a productive and very professionally run experience in my opinion and hopefully we changed some minds toward Rep. Segal in the process. Thanks for the experience! I would most definitely participate again." -- volunteer for David Segal
"I enjoyed speaking with the folks there in New Hampshire on behalf of Annie Kuster. I had some good conversations with folks and feel certain that the calls had a positive effect." -- volunteer for Ann McLane Kuster
Let's put the enthusiasm gap myth to bed once and for all.
I've started doing a round-up of smart, useful progressive actions I've seen land in my inbox or elsewhere on the web. A lot of folks have told me they found it helpful, so I'll try and make this a regular series from here on in. This is the 4th installment.
Another great action from our friends at CREDO Action. Fox News is vying for a front row in the White House Press Briefing room (Helen Thomas' old seat, actually) against NPR and Bloomberg News. It's vitally important that NPR be awarded the seat in the front row, not Fox. This eventually comes down to the officers of the White House Correspondents' Association. CNN's Ed Henry has come out in favor over "gentlemanly reasons". Whether it's Shirley Sherrod, ACORN, Van Jones, or the latest smear of the day, we need to tell the White House Correspondents Association that a right-wing propaganda outlet shouldn't get to sit in Helen Thomas' seat.
Nearly 170,000 have already signed CREDO's action petition. They are faxing and delivering them to board members and the ED. Sign the petition here.
Special note Also, some colleagues working on this are looking for help with certain information. They know the Correspondents' Association meeting has been moved to Sunday, August 1st. We need to know where and when.
We also need suggestions on direct contact info for these members who have a vote and/or influence over the decision:
WHCA Officers 2010-2011
President: David Jackson, USA Today
Vice President: Caren Boah, Reuters
Secretary: Steve Scully, C-SPAN
Treasurer: Doug Mills, New York Times
WHCA Board Members 2010-2011
Carol Lee, Politico
Michale Scherer, Time Magazine
Julie Mason, DC Examiner
Don Gonyea, NPR
Ed Henry, CNN
WHCA Executive Director
Julia Whiston
If you have contact info or suggestions, please drop me an e-mail at adambink AT gmail DOT com.
This could be a really useful victory in efforts to delegitimize FOX. Thanks.
A small announcement- I've joined with Courage Campaign to take over managing their NOMTourTracker.com blog for the next few weeks. It's an outgrowth of Prop8TrialTracker.com to cover anti-gay National Organization for Marriage and their "Summer for Marriage" tour across country which ends in DC on August 15th. Courage Campaign has trackers on the ground exposing NOM and the company they keep with video, photos and audio of their rallies and the counter-protests (which, so far, have outnumbered nearly ever NOM rally in every location). My pieces the last few days can be found here, here, here, and here. This is an especially amazing video of a NOM supporter in Indianapolis, taken by two of our trackers:
Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network are launching a campaign to finish the push on ENDA and DADT. Countdown 2010 is focusing on connecting LGBT Americans and allies to their representatives during the upcoming August recess, a critical period. Check it out.
If you attended Netroots Nation 2010 and loved it as much as I did, you can save money and register early for Netroots Nation 2011 in Minneapolis.
Dick Durbin is asking for votes on which Senate Dem challenger he should chip in towards. I went for Roxanne Conlin in Iowa, a friend of Mike Lux's who I met during Netroots Nation and found out she's been talking about same-sex marriage equality since 1979. Yes, 1979. And signed an amicus brief in favor of equality during the Iowa Supreme Court case. Mike will probably be writing more about her in the months to come.
NYS Senate homophobe majordomo Sen. Ruben Diaz called Fight Back NY, which is targeting Senators who voted against marriage equality, "Nazi-esque" and "the gay Gestapo". Classy. He's got a great challenger, Charlie Ramos. Chip in to FBNY to kick Diaz's rear.
In a fun case of progressive actions aimed at the progressive activists themselves, immigration activists staged a very enlightening action at Netroots Nation. I went through it myself. Watch here.
Several organizations are doing actions relating to getting Elizabeth Warren appointed as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This of course is another vital action. MoveOn (here and here), Credo Action, and PCCC all have actions on this.
Any additional good actions you've seen land in your inbox or around the web, leave them in the comments.
Hi, folks. Stephanie Taylor, one of my PCCC co-founders, just sent out this email to our members.
She's on a plane, so I wanted to share it with the OpenLeft community which was such a big part of the Bill Halter movement experience:
Hey everyone,
Last night was a really tough night. You've probably heard by now, but Bill Halter lost the Arkansas Senate primary to Blanche Lincoln in a squeaker.
The Democratic Party establishment and the White House teamed up with big corporations to protect one of the most corporate-owned senators in America -- and they barely won.
Today in news reports, the political insiders are gloating. They're proud that they beat thousands of people fighting for change.
But what the political establishment doesn't realize is that the progressive movement built power in this election.
Bill Halter started nearly 20 points down. He wasn't taken seriously by most insiders. But he gave Blanche Lincoln the scare of a lifetime with the help of a vibrant progressive movement -- thousands of people who committed time, talent, and small-dollar donations in the fight for change.
We formed the PCCC last year to create a new model for supporting progressive candidates. This race was an important building block:
Greetings from Little Rock, where it's election day!
If Bill Halter defeats Blanche Lincoln today, it will send shockwaves through the Democratic establishment -- sending a signal that corporate Democrats like Lincoln, Nelson, Landrieu, and Lieberman (I) will be rejected by voters back home when they obstruct progressive change.
I talked about the race last night on MSNBC with Ed Schultz, video below.
This doesn't have to be a spectator sport. Yesterday, Halter's grassroots field team -- led for the last two months by PCCC staffers Michael Snook and Keauna Gregory -- made a whopping 60,000 volunteer phone calls. Wow! The good folks at Democracy for America and MoveOn have also been instrumental. Can you help today too?
Hi--I'm Forrest Brown, senior organizing fellow at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Along with other groups like DFA and MoveOn, we're pouring our energy into getting Bill Halter elected - but I wanted to take a minute and pass along Bill Halter's thanks to all of you.
Progressives nationwide have been instrumental in putting Bill Halter in position to win. Here at OpenLeft and across the netroots, you've helped donate more than $3.5 million for Bill, and helped us make calls to over 200,000 voters in Arkansas. At the PCCC, we've raised over $250,000 for Halter's field operation -- putting staffers on the ground and talking to thousands of voters on the phone.
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) is continuing to pull in significant amounts of campaign cash from national progressive groups. He sent an e-mail to supporters of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee on Monday to thank them for helping him raise $250,000 ahead of Tuesday's vote.
"Thousands of PCCC members gave $250,000 in small-dollar donations, which went to fund our grassroots field operation and TV ads," Halter wrote in the e-mail. "You also helped make over 200,000 phone calls to voters in the final days, allowing us take the lead in the polls."
Halter is up against Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) in the runoff for the Democratic Senate nod.
A spokesman for PCCC said the group "has had senior staffers on the ground for the past couple months, leading Halter's field operation."
The photo below captures the moment Halter wrote the note onboard his campaign bus, according to the PCCC spokesman.
We're less than 36 hours away from polls closing in Arkansas, and this is the critical period to get Halter supporters to the polls. We need your help one more time.
There are only six days left in the critical primary between corporate Democrat Blanche Lincoln and netroots challenger Bill Halter. Bill Halter has the momentum leading up to next Tuesday's vote. This race is a tremendous opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to corporate Democrats like Blanche Lincoln all across the country.
Yesterday, Bill Halter rolled out his closing ad from Arkansas retiree Pauline Wildman. Pauline depends upon social security for her livelihood. In the ad, she calls out Blanche's proposal to cut social security. True to her sellout ways, Blanche wants to cut taxes for millionaires, but isn't as concerned about preserving social security.
Progressive Rhode Island State Rep. David Segal, a champion for workers and increasingly a netroots hero, just announced his candidacy for Patrick Kennedy's open seat.
A Democrat from Providence, Segal, 30, made the announcement outside the Taunton Avenue branch of Bank of America as a “sober reminder that too many working families have been let down in recent years by powerful institutions that they once trusted … Even as taxpayers bailed out Wall Street banks, like Bank of America, credit-card rates went through the roof and homes that families lived in for a lifetime were foreclosed upon.”
“I have stood up to the big banks. I have fought for working families. I have achieved concrete victories in these areas — cracking down on foreclosures, cracking down on predatory lending and more,” he told a crowd of about three-dozen supporters.
As progressive Rhode Island State Rep. David Segal announced on Daily Kos last Thursday, a coalition of progressives are using smart, strategic leverage to stand up for union workers.
Netroots Nation -- the annual conference of online activists and progressive thinkers, formerly known as "Yearly Kos" -- announced that they want to come to Providence, Rhode Island in 2011. That would bring $2 million of economic activity to the area.
But they're attaching one condition: The Westin hotel, where the conference would take place, just slashed worker pay by 20%. Netroots Nation insists that must be reversed.
Rep. David Segal is co-sponsoring the petition with Netroots Nation, RIFuture.org, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Segal will personally deliver the signatures to hotel management this week -- inviting the media to attend.
We're at 1,340 signatures -- can you help us reach 2,000 before the petition delivery? Click here to sign.
Since a number of folks in the comments and over e-mail said they liked a round-up of the better online actions that may have been buried in your inbox, or you didn't hear about, I'll go with it again and try and make it a regular thing at least once a week. If you missed last week's round-up, it's here. I'm marking those who advertised on OpenLeft with special recognition, as it helps us keep the lights on and keep writing and organizing for you. If you're interested in advertising or partnering with OpenLeft, drop me a line via e-mail at adambink at gmail dot com.
OpenLeft advertiser Earth Day Network is having a massive Earth Day rally in DC on Sunday with a range of people from Sting to John Legend to AFL-CIO President Trumka to author Margaret Atwood. There are also free buses leaving from area cities including NYC, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Columbus and others if you want to come down. All the details are here.
OpenLeft advertiser Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition has a petition to Congress to close the gun show loophole regarding background checks. This is the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, which happened in part because the shooters obtained their weapons without background checks at gun shows. One interesting number I didn't know is that polling shows 85% of surveyed gun owners support closing the loophole (and that's from a Frank Luntz poll commissioned by the group). As Chris wrote yesterday, it's sometimes scary as an urban resident with gun laws rapidly being undone or already lax. I remember when DC's own police commissioner testified in front of Congress for stronger gun laws, practically begging for the renewal of the assault weapons ban to protect his cops and residents, and Congress ignores him. Sign the petition here.
OpenLeft advertiser TrueMajority.org has a letter to Holy Joe and his gang regarding his Cold War-mentality opposition to Obama's nuclear treaty to reduce warhead stockpiles. Sign here.
Equality California is having a candidate forum to get the candidates running for statewide office on the record on LGBT issues. Notable absence is Jerry Brown, who's running for governor, but multiple other candidates are there. It's this Sunday in West Hollywood and free. RSVP to attend here, or watch online here, and submit your candidate questions at mythoughts at eqca dot org.
I took a walk at lunchtime the other day over to the DADT protest in which six veterans chained themselves to the White House fence to again ask the President to insert repeal language in the defense authorization bill. The Park Police reaction was really bizarre in terms of shutting down the park and not letting the media any closer. Their message to the White House is here, which is especially important since just today Robert Gibbs again refused to commit to repeal this year, and recommitted to a December 1st deadline for the Pentagon's review. Also, if you missed this week's earlier protest in Los Angeles on the same issue, you can read about it and folks' comments in this Quick Hit.
Over 34,000 people have signed Courage Campaign's letter to Obama with the message that sexual orientation should not be a factor in selecting a Supreme Court justice. I'm mainly concerned about this because of the White House's over-the-top response to rumors about Elana Kagan's orientation, and because as Courage Campaign's letter says, the right-wing fundies are already mobilizing.
Darrell Issa pushes back on the SEC's civil fraud case against Goldman Sachs. PCCC and Marcy Kaptur counter with thousands of calls and signatures to Congress to do one better- a criminal investigation. Add your name here.
One of the better tactics on health care reform is to collect horror stories of despicable insurance company efforts. Same can be used with ordinary people getting hurt by Wall Street corruption. If you've been screwed over by a Wall Street bank, share your story.
And again, last week's round-up is here for those who missed it. If you have any good actions you're working on or that landed in your inbox, leave them in the comments.
We are all on lots of organizational e-mail lists and sometimes it's difficult to have time to sort through them all. I unfortunately have to let a lot pile up in my inbox during busy days, and then try to take some time to clear them all out (if you want to know part of my secret, it's typing "in: inbox in: unread" in the Gmail search bar). I decided today was that day, and came across some actions I think are really worthwhile/creative, so I thought I would share them in a round-up post.
WeGiveADamn.org, whose model is to produce videos featuring both celebrities and non-celebrities talking about LGBT equality and why they "give a damn". It is especially targeted at straight allies, and a major aim is to share the content using social networking tools, as well as promote issue actions. Check it out and I'd be interested to hear what you think of the model. It's a project of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Fund.
Color of Change has a petition (in a well-titled e-mail blast "What if AT&T blocked this e-mail?") to the FCC around the recent court decision on net neutrality. The FCC has the power to re-assert its authority in this space on broadband and institute consumer protections. Here's the petition. For more on the ruling and why this is a key way to move forward based on it, see Chris' post from the other day.
Kendrick Meek's campaign has a well-produced biographical film out today that's worth a look. Short version and long version.
One of Progressive Change Campaign Committee's reasons for founding is that sometimes the high-priced consultants don't bring as much value for their buck. At last year's America's Future Now conference, they even described some who mismanaged campaigns. So PCCC set up a talent pool page where they connect people with campaign skills with campaigns that need help at a better value. Everything from CSS to fundraising to speaking Spanish to if you are an artist or actor. You can fill it out here if you have something to contribute.
Speaking of PCCC, and because we have lots of our own worthwhile actions here, if you haven't signed up for them, you should. PCCC will donate $1 for each new name to OpenLeft, which helps keep our lights on. And speaking as someone who dislikes clogging inboxes including my own, they are one of the most worthwhile lists to be on. Sign up here.
CREDO's DeFox action "now with more Palin!" is frickin' awesome. Side effects of DeFoxing include "breakout of clarity, spreading of rationality, fits of rationalization, tolerance of others, lowered blood pressure, suppressed bloodlust, breakout of truth, analytical seepage, extra energy, faith in your fellow man, more enjoyment of things around you, reduced mockery, and/or loss of irritability."
If you have any good ones that have come across your inbox or whatnot, feel free to leave a comment. And if you like this feature, leave a comment and I'll try and do it more regularly.
Nearly one year ago today, my life was changed by a blog post I wrote on OpenLeft entitled, "Profiles in Bad Online Organizing: Part 1 (DSCC)." In critiquing a DSCC petition to Norm Coleman, I wrote:
Every activist email must have a plausible "theory of change." People should see some concrete theory about why taking action could lead to a desired result.
But some people choose to inflame people's passions just to get their email addresses (and, more likely than not, to fundraise from them -- as opposed to later engaging them in quality activism). This sullys the online activism process for the rest of us.
That's why getting emails like this one from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recently was both insulting and maddening:
[Email text here]
...Nowhere in the entire email is there a theory for why a DSCC petition to Norm Coleman will make any impact.
And, if you think about it, why on earth would Norm Coleman listen to the DSCC? Can you think of a less credible messenger than the DC committee whose sole role is to defeat Senate Republicans like Coleman?
I'm not saying the DSCC has no role to play in getting Coleman to step down. I'm just saying they should play an honest and effective role.
To make a long story short, based on positive feedback from this post, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee I co-founded with Stephanie Taylor and Aaron Swartz ended up doing the "Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away" campaign with Democracy for America -- fully backed by a theory of change. In addition to putting real pressure on Norm Coleman, it brought over $100,000 and thousands of members into our nascent organization. (Many thanks to the OpenLeft readers who participated.)
Everything we did to advance the public option in 2009 and everything we will do to elect bold progressive candidates in 2010 flows from there.
I've been meaning to return to "theory of change" writing -- and analysis of organizations that just don't get it -- for a while. But I just read a great post by Aaron Swartz on his blog Raw Thoughts that really is a must-read.
If you want to be an effective activist -- or if you want to understand why many thinkers and institutions in DC are ineffective -- I highly recommend you read Aaron's "Theory of Change" post in full:
Great news for "the left" -- Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence wrote us a memo!
Who is Jill Lawrence, you may ask. She is the prognosticator who declared three months ago, "It may be too soon to write a requiem for the public option, but I'm going to do it anyway..."
Surprise, surprise, she now writes, "Memo to the Left: The Public Health Insurance Option Is Dead, Get Over It."
I actually don't care that someone would question whether the public option is dead. Ezra Klein -- a smart guy -- wrote just last Friday, "The public option: Very alive or totally dead?" (He also wrote, "the story of the public option's resurgence has been a mixture of smart organizing and Senate cowardice," much appreciated by the thousands of folks who have been organizing on this issue.)
What I resent about Jill Lawrence's "memo" is that she engages in journalism without facts. Check out her main three arguments against progressives:
First, a public option could complicate passage in the House. Pelosi is trying to balance potential loss of support from anti-abortion Democrats against gains that may come from moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats who prefer the Senate bill. They like it in part because it has no public option.
I spoke with Jill Lawrence and she said this on the phone. I asked her point blank, "What yes votes turn to no votes because of the public option?" Her answer, "Well, I don't know the names."
I suggested she find them. Evidently, she couldn't. But she threw this unsupported argument out there anyway.
One could just as easily say some members of the House are more likely to vote for the bill if it has a public option. Unlike Jill Lawrence, I can name names. The Atlantic's Chris Good wrote about Rep. Scott Murphy (D-NY) -- a former "no" vote -- in his piece, "A Moderate Dem For The Public Option." When signing our House public option letter, Murphy said:
"Our nation's health care system is broken. To have real reform we need to ensure three things; accessibility, accountability, and affordability. I support this letter because the public option would help achieve all three of these goals and help to keep costs down by giving the American public a competitive option to private insurers."
Jill Lawrence's first point goes down in flames. But, she took two more stabs at it. Here's the next one:
Last night, on MSNBC's Ed Show, the PCCC and our partners at WhipCongress.com announced, "We can say with confidence that there would be at least 51 votes for the public option in the Senate if the House goes first" and then named names and revealed new information.
Ed Schultz called it "the best reporting I have seen anywhere on a head count of the public option." (Ok, ok, he hasn't seen Chris's awesome reporting...) Here's the video:
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