How We Can Take Advantage of The GOP's Dilemma.

[MineralMan]

Right now, the spectacle of Newt Gingrich taking the lead in the GOP primary campaign, at least for the time being, should signal everyone who supports Democratic and progressive candidates in state and national legislative elections in 2012. Gingrich, once forced to resign his position of Speaker of the House, is receiving shouts of support from primary voters, at the same time they boo other candidates.

If we don't take this opportunity to gain ground in legislative elections all across the nation, we will miss a crucial opportunity. It is not the race for the presidency that is really in question. The contrast between the true family values and principles of President Obama and the moral decay represented by the long-time philanderer Gingrich should be more than adequate to make a second term a sure thing. Even if the GOP candidate ends up being Mitt Romney, Obama's victory is something that can be handled by his own campaign funds and organization.

State and federal legislative positions, however, are not so certain. One excellent strategy that we can use is to hold up the moral depravity and lack of concern of the GOP as an example of what the US and every state can expect if the Republicans hold control in legislatures. We can show how the obstructionism of the GOP has led to a slowdown of our economic recovery and a loss of our rights. We can demonstrate what might have been, had not the GOP blocked useful change at every opportunity. There's plenty of fodder for an endless stream of campaign posters, billboards, and television ads, pointing out the active role the GOP has played in keeping us from positive growth and pushing our rights into the background. Democratic candidates have hundreds of examples they can use in their speeches and appearances of the damage the GOP has caused, and they can point to leaders like Gingrich to show why this is happening.

The opportunity is there. Will we maximize its potential in 2012? Or will ennui with the state of things cause us to take a laissez-faire attitude toward state and federal legislative elections? I guess we'll see. For my part, I'm going to do everything I can to use the GOP as an example of what is wrong with government and how tossing them from office and electing progressive Democrats is the way forward.

[VioletLake]

1. Winning locally is a key part of our long game.

Occupy local government!

[MineralMan]

2. Absolutely.

All activism is local in nature, 90% of the time. And local activism actually works, unlike most national activism. Maximize your impact by working locally to elect legislators you can support. It's the most effective individual contribution any of us can make.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Over on this side of the St. Croix, I think people will stay fired up

through November and beyond. Our biggest problems are the unGodly amount of CU money that will come pouring in, first for the recalls & then for the General, and the voter-suppression laws.

In general, though, I certainly endorse what you say. In fact, I believe that if we can sustain the shift of topic from the deficit/debt to the many malfeasances of the Robber Barons, we will not only win, but be laying the groundwork for a major shift in the political climate.

Republican-style deception of the electorate can only carry them so far, and in this age of readily accessible information, Wikileaks, Anonymous, and peer-to-peer communication, their traditional tools for message manipulation are rapidly losing ground as shapers of opinion. Even the dimmest South Carolina snake handler by now has some conception of what the 99% meme is all about.

Young people are talking to each other around the world, and it's increasingly difficult to whip up xenophobic hatred for someone who just tweeted you about a common concern.

[MineralMan]

5. Yes, it's clear that Wisconsinites have

figured it out. They're using a grassroots approach to correct an error made in 2010. Their example should help us all figure out how to work in our own states and districts.

In 2010, as I did my usual precinct walking, I ran into a lot of people who had pretty much decided not to bother with the election. Once I explained what not going to the polls would do, many of them got it. So, in a year when turnouts were low, that particular precinct turned out 60% of its voters, and the vote for Democratic candidates at all levels ended up being almost exactly a 60% majority across the board. I'm not sure what percentage of the precinct's registered voters I ended up talking to, but it was a lot. I'm not taking credit for that turnout, but I'm taking credit for some small part of it.

In small-scale, precinct-level politics, it's pretty amazing what a single person can accomplish. Imagine what might happen if there were 10 or 100 people actively walking every precinct in the US and talking to as many voters as possible. It could change politics forever.

This is how grassroots politics works. I often think we spend far too much time on statewide and national politics. They have money. Let them campaign with that money. The bottom line is that if local political activism turns out voters, statewide and national campaigns benefit anyhow.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. 28,000.

That was the number of volunteers in the recall effort.

[MineralMan]

7. Outstanding! I hope we all follow their example

in our own areas. 28.000 collected 1 million signatures. That is a spectacular result.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Need to get those 60 seats back

and then some.

There are a bunch that had flipped that were close in 2008 when we won them and then they flipped back in 2010. We need those back again. People like Patrick Murphy or Alan Grayson should never have lost in 2010.

We also have a bunch where folks are retiring and these seats need replacements ready to go. This part is often hard because of how dirty politics is and it's only gotten worse in the past decade... Who really wants to subject themselves and their families to that nightmare? Pretty sad.

[VioletLake]

8. Kick, for your good thoughts. nt