Sondra Miller - a long time NPA supporter from Indiana - here asks why there are not more progressives running for state legislative districts and the US House of Representatives. Whether one is looking to get elected or just get information out from a "bully pulpit" this is the logical and easiest place to start. Efforts spent only on presidential elections or only on local elections seem to be a waste of time. No political party can claim to be effective that does not have anybody run for the U.S. HOR or State Legislative District.
I always find it interesting when a single sentence or vignette can sum up and describe a complex situation that may have been years in the making.
Ed’s remark about the left being renamed NATO (No Action-Talk Only) was one of those interesting summaries. CBS provided a similar interesting vignette on TV this morning. As a prelude to their schedule of upcoming candidate interviews, they flashed a photo of the White House and said “In order to get to this house, you have to come to our house”, and then they flashed a photo of the CBS Television studios.
This one vignette succinctly summarizes the power CBS has for reaching the huge diverse mass of American population. And if you don’t have access to that power you aren’t likely to reach them.
Both of these situations, with the left and with the TV networks, aren’t insurmountable problems. However, they do require some logical and practical thinking. The smaller the area in question, the easier it is to compete with the TV news networks. In a small Congressional District, the individual or small group can reach as many people as the networks. The individual or small group can make their own news through their own publications and personal talks.
State Legislature Districts are also a good place to start. State legislatures control some important legislation, including the ballot access laws. And State Legislature Districts are even smaller than Congressional Districts.
Which is why I’ve never understood the left’s preoccupation with Presidential ambitions when they can’t even get a viable Congressional District organization up and functioning to send a Representative to Congress. If enough Districts got up and running, they would eventually take the White House and be on the TV evening news as well.
But the talk on the left needs to change from broadcasting problems to broadcasting solutions. People are looking for solutions, not just problems. They are looking for the man with the plan.
References:
2-Organizing? What Organizing?!?
5-Safe States, Inside-Outside, and Other Liberal Illusions
