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I didn't see this thread earlier, it might be a better resource than my stupid goon project thread that I made. The basic gist of mine is specifically on how to get into the Democratic party on a state by state basis and how to get involved in higher level committees.
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Nov 15, 2016 07:48
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 19:53 |
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My theory is that if even a tiny fraction of angry leftists went through the pain of getting involved in the Democratic party and getting into a leadership position, it'd tip the balance towards a much more progressive vision of the party.
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Nov 15, 2016 08:22
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HorseRenoir posted:Just in general, I will never see the point in trying to build up a third party in a FPTP system. There's no difference between the Democratic Party and a coalition between a center-left party and smaller fringe left groups that you see in other nations, the only change is that all the discussion and organization is happening within the party instead of between two slightly more independent groups. That's actually something I want to do in my state party for choosing delegates to the convention. We spend all goddamned day voting and revoting over and over again until all the slots are filled. It could be done in one blast with iterated IRV.
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Nov 15, 2016 09:38
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Captain Fargle posted:Are you a member of your local party branch? If not, then join and push for it! Ask for a discussion of it to be put on the agenda to start with. Getting people talking about it is the first step. I definitely am, so now it's an issue of figuring out a practical way to do it.
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Nov 15, 2016 17:27
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Not trying to stoke any fires here, but this attitude is really common within the Democratic party, and it's why we need to get more people in to stand up to them. They're the same people who wrung their hands when they saw civil rights sit ins. Today they're complaining that protests interfere with emergency services.
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Nov 15, 2016 19:23
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It's violence to punch someone in the face. Sure. But it's also violence to enact policies that fund conversion therapy programs. It's just abstracted a few levels. And accordingly, it's violence to enable the people that put those policies into place. Ehh, it's not in good faith, so not worth derailing. Still, it's the bullshit you'll have to deal with if you get involved with party politics. It's worth having a good framework to argue from if you're trying to convince a room full of people.
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Nov 15, 2016 19:43
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Toph Bei Fong posted:Rules for Radicals          I KNEW IT!
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Nov 16, 2016 01:58
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Pollyanna posted:It's a thing because the GOP of all things is starting to believe it. I've been trying to help people find local meetings and in some areas it's stupid hard. Like, how loving hard is it for the state or county to put up a website with a calendar and just keep track of all that poo poo? Unless you're a total weirdo, you'll probably have an okay time at the meeting. Like 80% weirdo is okay, just don't reach 100%.
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Nov 17, 2016 17:25
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Toph Bei Fong posted:Just showing up and chatting with people regularly will give you an immense amount of clout. The number of people who show up once then disappear is, well... Attendance is so important. Even at the State level meetings where you have people who have theoretically done a decent amount of work to get elected to the state committee, attendance is usually around 50%. Being the guy who shows up every time to local meetings will basically guarantee you progress upwards.
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Nov 17, 2016 17:29
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Lightning Knight posted:Considering that many goons are technologically literate, I'd argue that getting in and pushing to modernize and rebuild organization websites would be a huge help. Letting people easily find and navigate info from home in a pleasant to look at format would be a godsend. If we could coordinate and get everything in a similar style, even better. If you are technologically literate, especially if you can do web design, you can make some money while you're at it. These campaigns get a lot of money and they spend it on yard signs and mailers. A few hours building a website and a Facebook page will be better than any of the competition.
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Nov 17, 2016 21:51
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Captain Fargle posted:What advice do you folks have with regards to learning public speaking and so forth? Classes seem like they'd be something I can't really afford. Check community colleges as an option if you want a class. Also check for a Toastmasters club in your area.
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Nov 18, 2016 19:49
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The other reason to look into toastmasters is that in addition to what they're known for, public speaking, they (depending on the club I suppose) also emphasize running an orderly meeting. They have the sergeant at arms start the meeting to go over the opening announcements, pass the floor to the Toastmaster who conducts the meeting portion, then gives control to the general evaluator, who returns control back to the Toastmaster to announce awards, and then gives the control to the presiding officer who concludes the meeting. The timer is keeping track of how long people speak and records overages to keep things on schedule. Another thing they emphasize is extemporaneous speech, and that's a good skill to learn.
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Nov 18, 2016 21:00
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Lightning Knight posted:Can you write critically? I don't know, maybe it's for a specific context, but powerpoint seems like a terrible tool for political speaking. Under anything but the best circumstances it's a crutch. Political speaking is about moving people. You aren't going to do that with a powerpoint. Now, if you're arguing for a very specific policy position kind of thing, like, traffic data to change the light cycle on an onramp, go for it.
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Nov 20, 2016 00:58
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I wouldn't ever count on there being a projector. You may end up at a small town meeting for a proposal and they'll permit public comment. That's a time to spend 5 minutes talking about an idea.
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Nov 20, 2016 01:12
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Lightning Knight posted:Then don't use a PowerPoint? I mean there's only so much you can do to help someone who isn't good at public speaking without classes or tutoring. I was just trying to be helpful. I just hate PowerPoint. Sorry  I don't know how useful my advice to new speakers would be because I usually just make a few notes on things I want to talk about and wing it. Passion goes a long way. Here''s a basic format for a speech. Introduce yourself. "My name is Dr. Arbitrary. I'm a resident of xxx and I've lived here for x years." State your thesis strongly and without any room for misunderstanding. "I'm strongly in favor of this policy, it's a reasonable proposal and the detractors are intentionally ignoring the potential benefits." Then, you need to have maybe 3 things you can talk about, lead with the most important. Cut the least important for time if you think it's getting short. "This policy will directly benefit me, and other people in my neighborhood. It blah blah blah" "This policy also helps blah blah blah" "The claim that this policy does blah blah is ludicrous, if it was true, how would you explain blah blah" Conclude I appreciate you taking the time to hearing my perspective. I encourage the committee/council/emperor to take my position into consideration, thank you. Don't go over time, that makes you a jerk. If you know how to troll, this can be really fun.
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Nov 20, 2016 01:24
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Grouchio posted:Has there been any progress made since election day in regards to reaching out to and organizing followers and members? Or will this be a slow and steady build-up? Unless something unexpected happens, the only reaching our will be from the bottom up. You're going to have to find the lowest level and get in, and if the lowest level doesn't exist, you are going to be it. For some people, it might end up that the lowest level is some club of people who are happy being in charge of their own thing, so you'll have to force your way in.
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Nov 21, 2016 22:58
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Prester Jane posted:At the suggestion of others I am quoting this post from the Libertarianism thread. This post was originally meant to pitch a co-writing project to Wren-P, but I think that even in its current(very rough) form the ideas in this post merit discussion. One thing I've been talking about is connecting people to the lowest level of the party in their area. In several of the post election threads, people have been lamenting how hard it is to find the local party, even in stronghold states. I'd like the DNC to take leadership on this, but if they don't I guess we'll have to do it for them. Might as well include local progressive groups, antifa, etc. with tags so that people can find what they're looking for.
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Nov 28, 2016 18:30
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One thing I noticed, in my state, where we had candidates running for almost every position, it wasn't easy to figure out who to vote for in non-partisan races. One of my friends found a GOP list and basically just voted opposite.
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Nov 28, 2016 21:15
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What kind of crappy organization doesn't do a holiday meeting/potluck. Just have at least a few people stop by Costco to grab cookies and soda.
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Nov 29, 2016 20:02
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I think a lot of groups do reorganization in November, so you aren't necessarily to be the official party. But if the chair is vacant, you can get the county or state to appoint you. Don't be afraid of starting a parallel group.
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Nov 29, 2016 20:25
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Baby Babbeh posted:Hey Toph, thanks for recommending Rules for Radicals. I bought it and read it cover to cover, and it's just about the best thing I've read this year. It manages to be remarkably clear-eyed in its assessment of what organizing is and blunt about the challenges organizers face, while remaining at the same time extremely hopeful and inspiring. It reminds me that no matter how bad poo poo is, it can change for the better if we fight for it, and that losing sight of this is ultimately why injustice succeeds. It's just really, really good, and a really important read right now. Now I know what to bring to the White Elephant gift exchange that the local party is doing.
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Nov 29, 2016 21:41
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Oracle posted:If you're trying to run independent or third party you'll often have to do all the legwork yourself and the major parties employ lawyers whose sole job is to keep fucks like you off the ballot in any legal way possible. High numbers of signatures of registered voters required to be on the ballot is a tried and true method because they will challenge every single one. Illinois is a loving master class in this). I've been the rear end in a top hat who challenged signatures in this scenario. A guy switched parties a week before he started his campaign to run in an already crowded primary. The best thing you get out of being in a party is access to the voter database. Why knock on every door in a neighborhood when you can just find the registered voters? Edit: Also, that's an amazing post, it should be in the OP. Dr. Arbitrary fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Nov 30, 2016 |
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Nov 30, 2016 08:52
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Misogynice Job! posted:My landlord is a massachusetts state representative. Would it be overstepping my boundaries to ask him how to get involved in the democratic party next time I see him? Only if he's a Republican.
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Nov 30, 2016 19:01
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Misogynice Job! posted:Haha, no he's not. Just wondering if it would be appropriate - I haven't had many issues with him but I've never really tried communicating with a landlord about anything other than apartment stuff. Unless he's a total scumbag, it'll be okay. Let us know how it goes.
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Nov 30, 2016 20:03
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It can really be a drain though. Don't expect everyone to have an unlimited fuel tank, especially if you're constantly leaning on the same people to do difficult work.
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Dec 1, 2016 03:29
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RiotGearEpsilon posted:Stay strong. Promote the cause, keep the faith, grow the host. We're 2.5 million stronger than them, no matter how much Trump wants to believe we don't exist, and we can make those numbers and that passion count! Yeah, but once you deduct all the fraudulent votes, we're nothing.
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Dec 2, 2016 06:34
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Fart of Darkness posted:That reminds me of those libertarians trying to take over New Hampshire. Wouldn't a strategy of moving to wherever like minded people are just insulate and polarize people more? Not if you're a minority. By concentrating in one area, they might get some actual representation.
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Dec 2, 2016 17:37
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I want to plug Toastmasters again. It's not free, but I think most places love guests. I'm working with Democrats in my area to set up a club, I want to get up and coming politicians into the club to get practice speaking, and I think it'd be a good community thing.
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Dec 9, 2016 22:19
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That's good, I'd have to find someone who knows more about it. One of the candidates in my area somehow got listed as attending an election event hosted by a strip club. I guess she said she had no problem coming to the club and meeting the employees to hear what their concerns were, and the club just put her down in the press release as a participant. The media does not give a poo poo about accuracy and won't bother to contact candidates to confirm if stuff is true.
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Dec 9, 2016 22:54
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I'd say it's worth seeing who is involved and if they're actually plugged into the actual process. If they're mostly involved with the Democratic party as well, you're basically just spending time with a Socialist caucus of the Democratic party, and that's not a bad thing. If they're mostly just rejects who got shunned by the party for being disruptive, you might just be wasting your time. It's sort of like how the Libertarians and Green party rarely get anywhere; even if the platforms of those parties is a better fit, if someone has real potential, they'd just be spinning their wheels without ever progressing their agenda except within a major party.
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Dec 19, 2016 17:42
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MizPiz posted:If I'm going to be upfront, I do think the DSA should work towards being able to run their own candidates. I think an interesting route would be to identify potential candidates and try to push them up the ranks in the Democratic party. The Tea Party candidates didn't run as Tea Party, they ran as Republicans. If there are enough people in the DSA willing to work, you could probably present a real primary threat for smaller races. And then there's all sorts of non-partisan races that you could probably win if you focused efforts on small areas.
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Dec 19, 2016 21:49
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folytopo posted:There are areas where the party is really closed off to new members who have labour to give but no money. Fair enough. Just don't write off the party as part of the solution. If you can get your foot in the door, you'll have access to a lot of institutional knowledge that can help. A few people voting as a bloc can really make a big difference. As an example, when the Democrats were chasing people to send to the national convention, the delegates were assigned by congressional district. One district for the state legislature is organized and has plenty of active members. Because 10 of them showed up to a vote where there were a dozen candidates and 30 voters total, they were able to dominate even though they represented only a third of the votes.
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Dec 20, 2016 21:52
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Veyrall posted:So...how effective might it be to run fake political ads pretending to be a Republican candidate that states their awful opinions in the straightest ways possible? Like, say, an ad that says, "I'm Rich White Guy, and I think it's time to stop Obamacare in its tracks and totally scrub it and any other trace of socialism out of America. I promise to destroy Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other big government conspiracies to keep health care out of the free market." http://www.citylab.com/politics/2012/06/book-burning-campaign-saved-public-library/2412/
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Jan 13, 2017 07:01
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jarofpiss posted:lots of members do work within the dem party but if people cant handle a talk on civil disobedience they're in the wrong meeting and need to join one of the many other progressive orgs in the 4th largest city in the country imho Once I was young and impulsive I wore every conceivable pin Even went to the socialist meetings Learned all the old union hymns But I've grown older and wiser And that's why i'm turning you in
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Jan 14, 2017 19:06
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unbutthurtable posted:My takeaway from this is that the American founding fathers could therefore be considered revolutionary leftists, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise. I think that's reasonable. It's hard to put them on a contemporary spectrum, but they were in favor of spreading the wealth a bit, but not too much. Only enough to get out from under the King, but not enough to empower the rabble.
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Jan 17, 2017 22:31
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Nice piece of fish posted:Crossposting this, because I never see this talked about very much amongst americans, and I'd love your thoughts on it. One Big Union. That sounds like a good idea to me!
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Jan 25, 2017 09:51
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Nice piece of fish posted:Well, to be totally serious that's pretty much what created those scandinavian social democratic countries left-thinking americans keep dreaming about. And I do mean direct cause and effect. I'm not even really trying to talk poo poo. I guess if they'd been more successful in the US, we'd have a very different world today.
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Jan 25, 2017 09:55
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To be fair, there's established political precedent in the US that playing a role in the movies is more desirable than actual real world experience in the role.
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Jan 25, 2017 16:58
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StrixNebulosa posted:Today I learned that if I give 5calls my zip code, I get a different rep than if I use my house address, and it's the same deal with the house.gov lookup. Do you have a voter registration card?
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Feb 1, 2017 00:02
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Frank Luntz has a book. He can't be a unique individual.
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Feb 1, 2017 04:38
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