Re: What Is This Thing For?
As a preface, I'm the person who trained Common Cause on their new blog, so while I don't work for them, I do have great respect for what they are doing and attempting to do.
What organizational purpose does National imagine this new fangled Blog will serve?
So far it looks a little disconnected from the actions and issues being promoted on the rest of the site.
That's true. It is. My sense is that the blog will become integrated into the workflow of the organization as Common Cause members and staff members learn how to use it. And nice use of the word new fangled. It's one of my favorites.
Why is the Scully post on here for members to read? Is Common Cause taking up Scully's obscure return to power as an issue? If so, why is this more important than say...anything else that has happened this month? More importantly, how do you want members to help you make that an issue?
Well, a great deal of what Common Cause does is inform the public, and the Medicare fiasco is absolutely part of the Common Cause mission. Scully hid information from Congress, and now he's being brought back into the administration. That's just nuts. Common Cause runs campaigns all the time, but it's not clear how the blog precisely fits into having people take action. Based on what I've seen, blogs are better for fomenting discussion, putting out information, and working with coalition partners - critical pieces of a campaign - more than they are at getting people to click on things. If you're always asking people to click on things on a blog, it gets pretty boring pretty quickly.
I propose the blog be used to bring National's current work to life. Let members know how you are spending their contributions on a day by day basis and how they can make that work more effective.
That's a great suggestion.
Isn't E-Voting now an officially blessed National issue? So what is National doing about it? Trying to get members to sign up as poll-watchers? Does Common Cause have anything close to the resources to make that project effective? Aren't there several organizations already running similar campaigns?
Voting machines are a critical issue, and I'd like to see more information on the ins and outs of the problem, including a post on what other organizations are doing on the issue and how members can help. It's scary what's happening to our democracy.
What will CC do even if they collect evidence of massive fraud on election day? Dispatch their hordes of election law lawyers to litigate a hundred local problems through lawsuits that even if succesful are not likely to resolve the underlying problem? - that federal standards under HAVA have still not been finalized and are not likely to address issues like paper ballots without further legislation.
Well, now that's a separate question, and a very good one. What would you suggest?
This doesn't look like an effective strategy.
This isn't a stand-alone strategy, it's a blog and a place for discussion.
The Washington Post has a whole section of their website trying to bring attention to the issue. It includes a video and links to tons of relevant articles straight out of recent week's papers. Why not let people know its there, get them to talk about what they learn, and then point them toward the specific actions they can take to do something about it? (This will require comming up with specific actions) And no, being highly involved with your local polling station, even if every member did it, is not going to fix what ails America's electoral process.
I think there's a misplaced sense of what one organization can do. Common Cause cannot solve America's electoral ills. I sense that you are extraordinarily frustrated with the politics of the country right now, because it seems like mass criminality is going on without consequence. And you want someone to hold 'those people' accountable. Welcome to the club. But there is no magic bullet, no one thing that someone can do that will have the bad guys go away. The process of reform will be painstaking and difficult, and involve lots of groups and people organizing themselves slowly to rebuild a system that is very damaged.
What's the link to the Post section? You can certainly link to it here in the comments.
Connecting members to actions is what grass roots organizations do, isn't it?
It's one of the things that grassroots organizations do, but it's not the only thing. Common Cause does a great deal of advocacy, education, and media outreach.
So put up some posts related to whatever issues are moving most right now and let members know how you are addressing them. The blog can give National real time responses from real members to your proposed issues and tactics. Why not take advantage of that?
Isn't there legislation in Congress trying to get paper ballots on all electronic voting machines? Aren't there activists in States across the country trying to do something about this problem? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27586-2004Oct12.html
Going by whats on the website, Common Cause looks like another spectator organization that recognizes the issue but can't commit to a strategic campaign to address it.
Thanks for the comments. It's one of the reasons that Common Cause put up this blog, so that they can take feedback from people and really bring voices into the process of reform. Common Cause is not a spectator organization, but like a great number of groups, it's struggling with how to use technology to bring people into meaningful interaction with the political process.
I know you're frustrated and annoyed, but you really did put thought into your comment, and I know Common Cause people appreciate that.
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