A quick update on the new site, and an abject apology for not getting any posts done over the last couple of days.
We (my partner in crime and I) have been working on getting the new site up and running. We're waiting to hear from a designer or two I have contacted to get this finished. We have the site, Moveable Type is installed, now all we need are a few finishing touches.
Here's the general outline: It's going to be a site dedicated to making resource available for local and state-level organizing and activity. I think that's where we have to start rebuilding. If any organization we build can have an impact on elections, especially at the so-called "grassroots" level, then we can begin to have an impact on more regional and national issues.
Our vision for the site has two parts, one a blog but with a difference; it will hopefully be a clearinghouse of ideas/materials/resources for folks out there in the field. If you have forms/lists/templates anything that might be useful and "transferrable" to someone else, leave it on the site, there will be place to put materials like that. There will be areas for open discussion of what works/worked etc... for everyone to share. Especially, share your sucess (and conversely failure) stories. We can all learn from both.
The second part will involve a discussion forum, not unlike the old chat boards/forums we all remember so fondly. My main concern there is security for those leaving messages/posts. I don't want to turn it into Freeper bait.
Ambitious? Absolutely. But we're going to make a difference, one local election at a time. As our neighbors see us as being as "normal" (whatever that means) as they are, they're going to be less likely to buy into the vilification of the Democratic party and Democrats as folks who are against what they think they're for.
Anyhow, that's where it stands. If some of you want to be "guest bloggers" over there, let me know. Ideally, I'd like to see something along the lines of PolState...someone or six people representing each state. The more, the merrier.
If you have ideas/suggestions/comments leave them in the comments or send me an e-mail. My partner and I are excited to see this move forward, but it'll go nowhere without participation. On to Victory!
posted by Jo Fish on 11.08.04 at 07:12 PM
Comments:
Hey Jo,
I'm not thrilled with my writing anymore, but I'd be happy to leave information and jot a thought or two about local stuff, here in Colorado, if you can't find better.
posted by: Kimberley on 11.09.04 at 03:42 AM [permalink]
WHY THE DEMOCRATS AND LIBERALISM ARE GREAT AND GOOD!!
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat and a Liberal!
President Harry Truman was a Democrat and a Liberal!
President John F. Kennedy was a Democrat and a Liberal!
Without Liberalism there would be NO PROTECTION OF THE AMERICAN WORKER…..
Without Liberalism there would be NO Social Security to protect the elderly as they get older….
Without Liberalism there would be NO Medicare for our people…
Without Liberalism there would be NO GI Education Benefits…
Without Liberalism there would be NO OVERTIME BENEFITS, that the “Compassionate” REPUBLICANS ARE NOW TRYING TO ELIMINATE….
Without Liberalism there would be NO HEALTH BENEFITS with one’s Job…
Without Liberalism there would be NO MINIMUM WAGE, LET ALONE INCREASES in the MINIMUM WAGE…
Without Liberalism there would be NO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION…
Without Liberalism there would be NO WORKMAN’S COMPENSATION….
Without Liberalism there would be NO Laws to protect Consumers from Unscrupulous Businesses…
Without Liberalism there would be NO Environmental Laws to protect our Earth, Water and Air…
Without Liberalism there would be NO one to PROTECT
the interests of the POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS people…
Without Liberalism there would be NO BENEFICIAL PENSIONS for people….
Liberalism is Progressive and brings out the BEST in the American People!
The 3 Main Reasons why I’m PROUD TO BE CALLED A LIBERAL is President Franklin D Roosevelt,
President Harry Truman,
and President John F. Kennedy—three of the GREATEST PRESIDENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 03:56 AM [permalink]
WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS!!
DEMOCRATS spend money for the general Welfare of ALL AMERICANS, instead of Corporate Welfare for the Few! The DEMOCRATS spread the Wealth around to ALL Americans, to Southerners, To Northerners, To Westerners, To Easterners---WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!
The DEMOCRATS fight to better the LIVES of ALL AMERICANS—to increase WAGES and SALARIES, to Increase Better Working Conditions, and to increase Benefits for ALL AMERICANS! The ECONOMY is MORE ROBUST with the DEMOCRATS in the PRESIDENCY!
Voting Democratic is voting for a MORE RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT!
A DEMOCRATIC Government Listens to the People and is more responsive and caring about the Needs and wants of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!
DEMOCRATS support and initiate Protection of the Air and Water of the U.S., for us and our children!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to balance the BUDGET, so it doesn’t creep up on us like a thief in the night!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to augment and increase VETERAN BENEFITS and their programs!
DEMOCRATS WILL send our TROOPS to war when it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary—SO WE DON’T LOSE OUR PRECIOUS SOLDIERS!
DEMOCRATS WILL work more effectively with WORLD LEADERS TO ELIMINATE TERRORISM!
DEMOCRATS WORK TO MAKE EVERY AMERICAN PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM and NOT THE FEW WEALTHY AMERICANS AMONG US.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy were “DIRTY DEMOCRATIC LIBERALS” and made the U.S. a better place for us AND for in the World!
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 04:08 AM [permalink]
WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS!!
DEMOCRATS spend money for the general Welfare of ALL AMERICANS, instead of Corporate Welfare for the Few! The DEMOCRATS spread the Wealth around to ALL Americans, to Southerners, To Northerners, To Westerners, To Easterners---WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!
The DEMOCRATS fight to better the LIVES of ALL AMERICANS—to increase WAGES and SALARIES, to Increase Better Working Conditions, and to increase Benefits for ALL AMERICANS! The ECONOMY is MORE ROBUST with the DEMOCRATS in the PRESIDENCY!
Voting Democratic is voting for a MORE RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT!
A DEMOCRATIC Government Listens to the People and is more responsive and caring about the Needs and wants of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!
DEMOCRATS support and initiate Protection of the Air and Water of the U.S., for us and our children!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to balance the BUDGET, so it doesn’t creep up on us like a thief in the night!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to augment and increase VETERAN BENEFITS and their programs!
DEMOCRATS WILL send our TROOPS to war when it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary—SO WE DON’T LOSE OUR PRECIOUS SOLDIERS!
DEMOCRATS WILL work more effectively with WORLD LEADERS TO ELIMINATE TERRORISM!
DEMOCRATS WORK TO MAKE EVERY AMERICAN PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM and NOT THE FEW WEALTHY AMERICANS AMONG US.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy were “DIRTY DEMOCRATIC LIBERALS” and made the U.S. a better place for us AND for in the World!
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 04:09 AM [permalink]
WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS!!
DEMOCRATS spend money for the general Welfare of ALL AMERICANS, instead of Corporate Welfare for the Few! The DEMOCRATS spread the Wealth around to ALL Americans, to Southerners, To Northerners, To Westerners, To Easterners---WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!
The DEMOCRATS fight to better the LIVES of ALL AMERICANS—to increase WAGES and SALARIES, to Increase Better Working Conditions, and to increase Benefits for ALL AMERICANS! The ECONOMY is MORE ROBUST with the DEMOCRATS in the PRESIDENCY!
Voting Democratic is voting for a MORE RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT!
A DEMOCRATIC Government Listens to the People and is more responsive and caring about the Needs and wants of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!
DEMOCRATS support and initiate Protection of the Air and Water of the U.S., for us and our children!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to balance the BUDGET, so it doesn’t creep up on us like a thief in the night!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to augment and increase VETERAN BENEFITS and their programs!
DEMOCRATS WILL send our TROOPS to war when it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary—SO WE DON’T LOSE OUR PRECIOUS SOLDIERS!
DEMOCRATS WILL work more effectively with WORLD LEADERS TO ELIMINATE TERRORISM!
DEMOCRATS WORK TO MAKE EVERY AMERICAN PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM and NOT THE FEW WEALTHY AMERICANS AMONG US.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy were “DIRTY DEMOCRATIC LIBERALS” and made the U.S. a better place for us AND for in the World!
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 04:10 AM [permalink]
WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS!!
DEMOCRATS spend money for the general Welfare of ALL AMERICANS, instead of Corporate Welfare for the Few! The DEMOCRATS spread the Wealth around to ALL Americans, to Southerners, To Northerners, To Westerners, To Easterners---WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!
The DEMOCRATS fight to better the LIVES of ALL AMERICANS—to increase WAGES and SALARIES, to Increase Better Working Conditions, and to increase Benefits for ALL AMERICANS! The ECONOMY is MORE ROBUST with the DEMOCRATS in the PRESIDENCY!
Voting Democratic is voting for a MORE RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT!
A DEMOCRATIC Government Listens to the People and is more responsive and caring about the Needs and wants of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!
DEMOCRATS support and initiate Protection of the Air and Water of the U.S., for us and our children!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to balance the BUDGET, so it doesn’t creep up on us like a thief in the night!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to augment and increase VETERAN BENEFITS and their programs!
DEMOCRATS WILL send our TROOPS to war when it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary—SO WE DON’T LOSE OUR PRECIOUS SOLDIERS!
DEMOCRATS WILL work more effectively with WORLD LEADERS TO ELIMINATE TERRORISM!
DEMOCRATS WORK TO MAKE EVERY AMERICAN PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM and NOT THE FEW WEALTHY AMERICANS AMONG US.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy were “DIRTY DEMOCRATIC LIBERALS” and made the U.S. a better place for us AND for in the World!
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 04:11 AM [permalink]
WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS!!
DEMOCRATS spend money for the general Welfare of ALL AMERICANS, instead of Corporate Welfare for the Few! The DEMOCRATS spread the Wealth around to ALL Americans, to Southerners, To Northerners, To Westerners, To Easterners---WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!
The DEMOCRATS fight to better the LIVES of ALL AMERICANS—to increase WAGES and SALARIES, to Increase Better Working Conditions, and to increase Benefits for ALL AMERICANS! The ECONOMY is MORE ROBUST with the DEMOCRATS in the PRESIDENCY!
Voting Democratic is voting for a MORE RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT!
A DEMOCRATIC Government Listens to the People and is more responsive and caring about the Needs and wants of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!
DEMOCRATS support and initiate Protection of the Air and Water of the U.S., for us and our children!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to balance the BUDGET, so it doesn’t creep up on us like a thief in the night!
DEMOCRATS WILL work to augment and increase VETERAN BENEFITS and their programs!
DEMOCRATS WILL send our TROOPS to war when it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary—SO WE DON’T LOSE OUR PRECIOUS SOLDIERS!
DEMOCRATS WILL work more effectively with WORLD LEADERS TO ELIMINATE TERRORISM!
DEMOCRATS WORK TO MAKE EVERY AMERICAN PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM and NOT THE FEW WEALTHY AMERICANS AMONG US.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy were “DIRTY DEMOCRATIC LIBERALS” and made the U.S. a better place for us AND for in the World!
posted by: D. King on 11.09.04 at 04:11 AM [permalink]
You made some glaring errors there in your rantings. Republicans are the ones who fought for a balanced budget. See Newt.org for information about the Contract with America. Why did you leave out Clinton? I hear the Dems touting him wherever I go so why didn't you mention his name? What about Jimmy Carter? What about Lyndon Johnson? You know its kind of hypocritical to tout that Dems wont send our military in harms way without good cause and bust on the Iraq war because fact is that Kennedy sent troops to Vietnam and Lyndon sent lots of troops to Vietnam. Maybe if the death toll surpasses 50,000 in Iraq you have something to squawk about but for now you better leave that point alone.
posted by: pete on 11.09.04 at 07:23 AM [permalink]
Jo, I'm in.
For the message board you can create a members only forum. In fact, create two boards, one with public access but moderated to keep trolls out (what are freepers?), and the other for actual team members. I've seen it done using phpBB.
Take a stroll over to http://thegeneralconversation.com/
They're a bunch of wusses over there, but very well intentioned and you can see how they set up their board.
Also, I was just working all day yesterday on retooling my own website at http://cdpatton.net/marionforclark/ to switch from campaigning for Clark to doing political activism. Learning to create a cascading style sheet has a hefty learning curve on it.
Anyway, let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I can think of nothing more important to be doing.
I like it! But I'm not surprised you have more great ideas. Sorta like Carville, the attitude here is: when you see your opponenet drowning, throw him an anvil. I like also the military way of keeping the repubs as they are currently configured the 'enemy' with all the great insults leveled at them. My father is a veteran from Europe (WWII), so I would like to see vet reach out via a site like this.
posted by: Nina on 11.09.04 at 02:53 PM [permalink]
Pete, you moron, you don't actually "hear Democrats touting Clinton," because you get all your info about us from Fox and Limbutt.
If you did, you'd hear more hell being given to Clinton than you'd believe, because nobody criticizes like family.
Republicans like to lie about liking balanced budgets. They make a lot of nice agitprop and then go ahead and spend like drunken sailors.
One of many reasons I am no longer a Republican is the hypocrisy, stupid.
This will be a critical resource, when it's together. I'll frontpage it.
Also, people on the ground in each state can bust down the CW about how the quaint regionals are, and how the demographics and shifts change things. This will be ever more important if we are to stop areas from going red before it's too late.
Let me know what I can do to help. The best way to control the rightwingers is to have a group of moderators in different time zones and a clear path so complaints can reach them quickly.
