Tuesday, October 18, 2005

10 Things to do

From dKos, a great diary from Rippe about what you should do, starting right now, to help Democrats when, starting right now.

The list of ten, which doesn't include donating to Pete Ashdown, with my additions in itallics:

10 Things Every Democrat Should Do Today:

1. As fun as the conjecture is, STOP DAYDREAMING ABOUT
2008
. So much will happen between now and then that today's
hypothesizing will be moot tomorrow. Think "incremental victory" instead.
Which leads us to...

2. ADOPT TWO DEMOCRATS running for office in 2006 -- one local or
state candidate, and one House or Senate candidate (like Pete Ashdown)
-- and find a way to help them win. If you give each of your two adoptees
1 hour a week -- on phones, on the campaign trail, in the volunteer office --
the dividends will be huge. Plus, campaign offices are a great place to
get laid.

3. CASH IN THE JAR OF CHANGE sitting next to your bed and give it to
the DNC before matching ends on October 21st. The 50-state strategy is one
of the party's best ideas in years (not saying much, I know), but it needs
funding. The canucks and lint given back to you by the bank teller can be
donated to the GOP. (If you don't like the DNC, donate to Pete.)

4. If you belong to a largely Democratic family, suggest not drawing
names for holiday gifts this year, and instead, POOL THOSE DOLLARS to the
benefit of a local candidate, or use it to buy Democracy Bonds. This idea
got a lot of support in my family.

5. REPLACE THE SIGNATURE LINE on your emails with step-by-step voter
registration instructions for your community. Use this signature with an
abundance of caution. Send only to known Democrats.

6. Make a personal pledge that for every diary (or blog) you
post that bashes a wingnut, you'll post one that tells the rest of us about
something GOOD GOING ON in your piece of the Democratic world. Please
don't confuse these with each other, or I'll have to whip out another bad sports
analogy.

7. Once a week, bite the bullet and engage in a CONVERSATION WITH A
REPUBLICAN. Set this ground rule: every word of the conversation must be
based in fact -- no emotion, no hyperbole, no unfounded accusations. This
will piss them off, but you will shine in that environment.

8. Adopt a single Democratic issue that you're passionate about and
write the TALKING POINTS on that issue without ever using the word "Republican."
Keep it positive, honest and constructive. Use your talking points
to write letters to every editor of every local paper you can find. Don't
forget the small community newspapers; they're so desperate for content that
they'll print anything you send them verbatim.

9. PEPPER THE DNC with letters and emails demanding some real
action from your party. Tell them to leave the wingnut-bashing to the
blogs, and to get down to business with a platform, a candidate recruitment
strategy, and/or a midterm convention. Every dollar I send them is
accompanied by a note like this. I'm sure they hate me for it.

10. If you're employing your own strategies, SHARE.


-Bob

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