Even before the election I realized that liberals/progressives need to get better organized. There are online communities like Common Ground and DU, with tens of thousands of members, all ready to channel their sadness, anger (and fear) into action. MoveOn and ACT and many others were extremely effective in mobilizing their members during the campaign, but where are they now?

My proposal is to start an online progressive coordination corps. The goal is not to duplicate anyone else's effort, but to bring concentrated focus to areas where we share mutual interest.

Over the weekend I scraped together a conceptual plan and need to bounce this off some people who are as passionate for change as I am and share the idea that we will all benefit from coordination of efforts. Would be interested in hearing from people who want to take on some leadership roles, build teams, and have the tenacity to grow something from the ground up. Oh yeah, and you need to be willing to devote time, lots or a little, as volunteers. We will need skills in IT, strategic planning, marketing, legal, project management, and of course, grassroots organizing.

I've been a founding board member of a virtual international organization and I know what it takes. It's like giving birth. Just as painful as it is rewarding.

If you're interested, let me know. (Send me an e-mail.) I'll be happy to share the plan with people who are anxious to turn their motivation into action.

Thanks.
Kat

In my own effort to contribute to the cause, I am writing pro-liberal essays and circulating them by e-mail. The idea of these essays is to raise the intellectual level of the debate, and discuss issues on a moral and logical level.

If you're interested in receiving these papers, titled "Do-It-Yourself Democracy," contact me at: Jurius2004(at)yahoo(dot)com

You got it.

Here's my focus right now:

Stinkin' Chickens Roost

http://stinkinchickensroost.blogspot.com/

YES!!!

But let's get thru this votergate thing first.
I'm still feeling pretty wiped out from the election, and the aftermath.

Something needs to be done - everyone's blogging, that energy needs to be used more productively.... blogging is great, we learn from each other, strength in numbers, but it's not enough....

Hi Jill,
One of the goals of this coordination effort would be to help us respond to votergate and other atrocities. Lots of different groups out there are calling for action. A few hundred here. A thousand there. If we had a focused, concentrated, and timely response it would have a larger effect.

Organization is the key here... I'm a believer.

I'm ready to focus efforts on the next campaign and working on introducing progressive ideas... out side the blue zone.

the votergate... is a lost leader, look for the media hipe.. but its time to move on and get down to business.

I'm ready to be organized :D Will look forward to more information.

I think that organization is the key to the future of our progressive cause. I was contributing to so many groups before the election that had an ad to publish or air, or a petition to circulate or a march to organize, but they were all acting independently. The energy was scattered and therefore diffused. It was all well intended, but inefficient. The Republicans, however, had been carefully planning this comeback since the Regan years, and with plenty of money to fund it also.

Organization, action, and focus is what we need and we will conquer!

Thank you, SPF White, disenfranchised and catchawave. We do need to speak in a louder, more coordinated voice, to effect change. We are working on a coordination effort and will be happy to share plans and enlist your help to get it launched.

In the meantime, watch for rallys and protests in your area and take part.

Organization is good - the devil is in the details.

The key is in the plan development, focus and management to achieve the desired goal(s) and unlock the doors. I am interested in hearing more of the plan and the focus you intend.

WELL...HERE'S A PLACE WE SHOULD START THE FIGHT..

Paul Krugman Doesn't Know The Half of It
Thursday, December 4, 2003
E-Mail Article
Printer Friendly Version


Greg’s Letter Printed In The New York Times

Re: Paul Krugman’s Op-Ed on December 2

To the Editor:

Paul Krugman ("Hack the Vote," column, Dec. 2) warns against the danger of computerized voting machines, but the real danger is the new, federally mandated computerization of voter rolls.

As he mentions, the disaster in Florida in 2000 was the wrongful disenfranchisement of voters.

Katherine Harris's office, using a computerized database with known faults, misidentified these citizens as felons, then purged them from voter registries.

Last year, with little fanfare and less scrutiny, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, which effectively orders all states to buy the computerized voting machines that Mr. Krugman rightly dreads. Worse, the law requires all states to computerize their voter rolls and purge those lists of suspect voters, à la Florida.

Heaven help us when President Bush and Congress tell us that they are going to "help" us vote.

GREG PALAST New York, Dec. 2, 2003