What are some good activism ideas for stay-at-home moms?

[wildeyed]

I have questions from some of the moms at my daughter's pre-school who want to volunteer, but can't take the time away from their kids to do phone banking or canvassing. I know I read about some letter writing campaigns, etc. that could be done from home while the kiddies nap, but I can't remember who is running the programs. Thanks for the info!

[NMDemDist2]

1. sign up for the media corp at johnkerry.com You could also phone

bank from home for ACT with internet access www.act4victory.com

some state parties also allow phone banking from home (I know AZ does cuz I do it!)

call your local party and see if that option is available

[Joy Anne]

2. phone banking

for local candidates, too. Contact local candidates you favor or town Democratic headquarters.

[bigpathpaul]

3. The League of Conservation Voters Has a Letter-Writing Program

Aimed at undecided voters. You can do everything through their Environmental Victory Project site:

http://www.envirovictory.org/modules/constituent/login.php

[John Q. Citizen]

4. The Kerry Phone Corps is great.

I'm a stay at home single Dad and I live in a Red State. For the last couple of weeks I've been calling Kerry supporters in swing states to sign them up for local canvasses.

It's a lot of fun. People are so glad to have a way to participate.

You can sign up to get involved through the johnkerry.com site

[MADem]

5. For those who cannot commit...

...to a structured organizational effort, just tell them to surf the web, and respond directly, in articulate fashion, to the reporters who have written articles that are flat-out full of crap, unclear, unfair, or have headlines that do not match the story. Send a copy to the ombudsman of the periodical, if there is one.

Reporters actually do read their mail. Some of them get offended, some give a bland response, but they do react to criticism, even if it is not apparent in their replies.

Every little bit does help.

[rodmant]

6. contact your Kerry ward captain - work on their undecideds

I'm a ward captain in Milwaukee WI , I have a list of undecideds, yours probably
does also. Get the list and look at any notes associated w/the
particular undecided and then call or visit them.

[friesianrider]

7. Write letters to the newspaper!

I do it all the time and it is something that you can do on your own time (and often submit the letters online) which reaches a ton of people. Good Luck and huge pat on the back to you for getting involved despite your hectic schedule! :)

[qwlauren35]

8. If you've got time at night, use the Internet...

I have done a lot of this for the past 3 months; I'm not 100% sure of its effectiveness, but I KNOW that it does make a difference.

I search through groups.yahoo.com and other listservs looking for organizations that are likely to be Kerry-friendly in my state or hometown, and I post information that I think has the potential to be useful.

For people who want to get active immediately, I offer links and phone numbers to the most politically active organizations in the area. For me, that's the local Dem HQ, but for others, it may be www.actforvictory.com or www.moveonpac.org. I also offer the Kerry site, www.johnkerry.com/volunteernow.

When the Kerry/Edwards folks come to town, I e-mail announcements of how to get tickets to friends, family and other Kerry supporters.

For people who are undecided, I post non-partisan websites such as www.presidentmatch.com and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5993610/ to help them find out where the candidates really stand on issues and what their similarities and differences are without all the propaganda and attacks. I also recommend www.vote-smart.org.

I keep my ear to the ground about campaign activities in my area and make sure they are posted on various websites, especially volunteer.johnkerry.com. I occasionally organize them, but my primary interest is to make sure that folks tied into the website know about local activities. I also visit www.acthere.org and www.democracyforamerica.com and pull in every listed person who lives near me as a "friend", and regularly e-mail them information about things happening in the area that they can get involved in.

Last... I buy stuff and distribute it. Bumperstickers, buttons, yardsigns. Most of what I've bought, I have shared freely. The signs I am "selling" because they're relatively expensive. I donate the profits or extras to the local Dem HQ.

While I can't say that I'm impacting hundreds of thousands of people, I DO know that my work makes a difference, because people respond and say thank you.

[Francine Frensky]

9. Wow. Great job.

I bet you are making a difference.

[bleedingheart]

10. How about this...

We have the same problems in our county. What if three mothers get together and go to the phone banking place...one mother watches the kids and keeps them occupied while the other two work the phones...then rotate in shifts???

As long as you have a separate room for the kiddies...it should work wonderfully and it would be like a playgroup..

just an idea....