Here are my personal plans. I'd love your feedback.

Here are my next steps I plan to start working on.

Clean Elections:

I will work for a local referendum to get clean elections in my county, along the lines of Arizona Clean Elections. It's my understanding that under their system, a candidate who signs off has to do a certain amount of fundraising in small amounts, then is given funding for their elections. Some candidates do not choose to participate. If a candidate has an opponent who HAS signed off, the participating candidate is given funding equal to their opponent.

I am convinced that money in politics is bad for our democracy, and that taking one county towards this system will inspire others in the way that Arizona has inspired me.

http://www.azclean.org/
http://www.publicampaign.org/

Election Protection:

I will nag my local elections office about black box voting. I will recruit a couple of techno-gurus I know to add weight to my opinions. I will work with a locally existing clean elections organization to keep eyes on my local office.

Grassroots Networking:

I will start a Democratic club in my area of town, or a chapter of an already existing club. This is important to allow us to build a membership list that we can call on for fundraising, future political activities like canvassing, etc. Also, we need to strengthen the ties between us activists so that we can call on each other in times of need. I will continue to network with the local Democratic party, progressives in town, and so on, and build alliances between different groups of people who can get together for action.

Language and Framing:

I will spread George Lakoff's ideas everywhere. George Lakoff is the author of "Don't Think of An Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate." Lakoff is a cognitive linguist who has some really good ideas about how progressives need to learn to control language and dialog. I will host a houseparty to watch the Lakoff DVD and I will conduct training sessions based on Lakoff's ideas.

DVD http://www.winwithlanguage.com/
http://www.chelseagreen.com/2004/items/elephant

Personal Pocketbook Effort:

I will make a list of companies who contribute to Republicans and companies who contribute to Democrats and I will vote with my pocketbook. I will write each of them a letter and tell them why I am doing this. I will buy as little as possible, barter and save, and devote every spare dollar to progressive causes.

There's a good thread on this here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2587076

Remain Engaged:

Do all of the usual stuff. Keep an eye on Washington. Write LTTEs. Write my congressperson. Continue to educate myself on the issues and our history. Read. Read. Read.

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There are a LOT of other things I feel are crucial. Media reform, electoral college reform, funding progressive think tanks, long term strategy, systemic issues, etc. If something else really excellent pops up I'll put it on the list (although this list is looking kind of long as it is, heh.) The point of this list is for personal grassroots activism that I can do and will have maximum impact locally and long term.

Thoughts, suggestions, etc? Anyone wanna point out resources, etc that might go with my little pet projects? Additions?

this is the way to go. We need to start at all levels framing the debate, and not just be a mute response to every Repuke outrage. I'm bookmarking this thread for your valuable ideas and links.

right now.

:thumbsup:

I agree with the language... It worked for Newt, it can work for us.

thank you now we start.