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We Write Letters - Vote Change Like You Mean It

by: phillip anderson

Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 12:03:49 PM EDT

A letter from some netroots New Yorkers:

Democrats are on the ascent, nationally and in states like ours, where the decades-old Republican stranglehold on Albany may finally be broken in less than one week.
If the Democrats are victorious, then the real battle will begin: how do we hold them accountable to progressive values against the enormous pressure they will face to play it safe?
It's going to be a big challenge, so we'll cut to chase: we need your help. New York needs your help. The single biggest thing we can do right now to boost progressive power in the Empire State is to strengthen our very own progressive third party - the Working Families Party.
As you may well know, they've led many of the big battles over the last ten years, from raising the minimum wage to putting paid family leave on the map, to fighting for affordable healthcare for all, public transportation, and most recently taking on Mayor Bloomberg's extremely undemocratic plan to extend term limits without a public vote.

The rest on the flip...

phillip anderson :: We Write Letters - Vote Change Like You Mean It

The term limits fight deserves a close look. The WFP, with the help of bloggers and parts of the city's labor movement, was able to turn what would have been an overnight power grab into a very real - and only narrowly lost - fight. They did it by quickly assembling a grassroots coalition, online and in the streets, to put pressure on a City Council that had expected none.
The term limits battle is another reminder that voter anger is not enough - winning means having progressive institutions with the resources to respond when push comes to shove.
The fights of the future will be no different. The more strength the WFP has, the better our chances are of keeping Democrats from drifting rightward in 2009.
To do it, we need to get every progressive we can reach to vote for Barack Obama - and the Democratic candidates for Congress and the state legislature - on the Working Families ballot line.
That's where you come in. Thousands of Netroots activists in New York already vote on the Working Families line, but need a reminder. Many thousands more would find their happy home on "Row E" - if we let them know (repeatedly) about the opportunity.
They've set up a great website to do just that: Vote Change Like You Mean It.
Our task is to make sure enough people read what's there. Tell your friends, family, all your fellow New York progressives. Blog, Twitter - whatever your thing is, do it.
It's simple. Working Families votes not only let us "vote our progressive values," they carry an important implicit threat. The WFP and its allies online and off have a track record defeating incumbent Democrats through primary challenges when those Democrats let us down.
The more Working Families votes there are this November, the greater that threat becomes, and the more likely we are to win the big votes for affordable housing, campaign finance reform, a fair budget, and everything else next January and beyond.
On November 4th we have a chance not just to kick Republicans out of the White House and Albany, but to start making Democrats better from day one.
We hope you'll join us. Go to: www.workingfamilies.org/Obama -- tell your friends, fellow activists, and every New Yorker you know. The more votes, the more progressive power.
To contact the WFP about helping directly, email Dan Levitan at dlevitan@workingfamiliesparty.org
Sincerely,
Phillip Anderson and Robert Harding, The Albany Project
Michael Bouldin, Daily Gotham
Justin Krebs
Political Organizer

Tags: Barack Obama, WFP, Working Families Party, (All Tags)

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We Write Letters - Vote Change Like You Mean It | 6 comments

Sorry, but no (4.00 / 1)

I appreciate your desire to bring the Democrats further left, but I don't see the WFP as a force for reform on governance.

While it's nice that they're fighting hard for a Democratic Senate in a year when too many labor organizations still seem to think the Senate Republicans are great, I don't get any sense that the WFP is uncomfortable with "Three Men in a Room", so long as the three are all folks they've endorsed.

I'll be a very long while getting over Dan Cantor's piece on why we should all be nice to Sheldon Silver, I guess.

Is voting on the Democratic line that much better? Yes and no. No, because the NYS Democrats are obviously broken on this, worse than the WFP. Yes, because this is an issue that has to be addressed inside of the Democratic Party, and I don't think the WFP has much to offer that conversation.

by: simonstl @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 17:20:47 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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I didn't agree with WFP (0.00 / 0)

on the Silver race, and made sure they knew that. But what other tools do we have to keep Democrats in touch with the Progressive base? Not very many.

by: Michael Bouldin @ Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 02:35:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

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why exactly do you need tools? (0.00 / 0)

I know New York's fusion voting approach makes it tempting to go outside of the main parties to try to get leverage on them, but does it occur to anyone that that's exactly what the main parties want?

Let the troublemakers wander over there where it looks easier. That way they'll stay out of the clubhouse.

If we want a progressive - or reformist (they're not necessarily the same thing) - Democratic party, we have to focus on the Democrats.

The progressive base of the Democratic Party is much more activist than most of the rest of it. Why can't it apply that energy to, you know, reviving the party?

I know, I know, issues seem sexier than party and process. Unfortunately, that attitude makes it a lot easier for the current party and process to trade tidbits instead of actually ever changing itself.

It may be that the New York State Democratic Party is hopelessly broken. I've contemplated starting a third party myself, and may someday find that there's no other route. But I can't find supporting the WFP to be the best or only route to fixing the Democrats today.

by: simonstl @ Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:57:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Without going into too much detail... (0.00 / 0)

I remember when Dan Cantor and I first talked on the phone. There was a mutual understanding that the WFP backed Shelly Silver and I (along with my friends Bouldin and Phillip) did not. I understand why they back Silver and we tend to agree to disagree and respect each other's views.

That said, the WFP is front and center on a lot of issues. A LOT of issues. I have great respect for what they do. Do I agree with them on everything? No. But how is that earth-shattering? I don't agree with the Democratic Party on some things either.

I refuse to judge the WFP based on their backing of Silver. Instead, I look at the big picture. The WFP has been a champion of progressive causes here in New York and they have been a voice when one was desperately needed.

I will have a talk to the WFP about endorsing Maziarz though. We need to fix that by 2010.

by: robert.harding @ Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:11:58 AM UTC

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I judge the WFP by their priorities (0.00 / 0)

The WFP is "front and center on a lot of issues" - a lot of issues that most Democrats support too.

My concern is that the WFP is all too ready to ignore the basic problem of democracy: it requires trust, not just getting the results you want.

Right now, voters don't have a lot of trust in the legislature and in NYS government generally. That's not a matter of party - it's the kind of cynicism that emerges after decades of inside pool.

Shifting from "uninformed voter" to "informed about state government" in New York is a miserable process. You don't just learn about issues - you learn about middle of the night votes, three men in a room, public votes put on for show.

For folks who've learned that, it's hard to see how voting on the WFP line helps. The WFP is certainly progressive - I just don't see any appetite there for actual reform, the kind that requires telling your allies to stop misbehaving. That whole "speak truth to power" thing is just as important with friends as with enemies.

It'll be great when the Democrats have both houses of the legislature - so long as we STOP misbehaving. We need to give the voters a lot more reason to think that they make a difference, not just a few folks in Albany.

Voting WFP doesn't help on that score, so far as I can tell.

by: simonstl @ Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 12:08:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I will vote WFP (0.00 / 0)

As I have done before. And I agree with their assessment that Silver is a strong and constant force on socially progressive issues. I think that is needed as we head toward a very bad economic period in New York, falling state revenue and uncertainty with the Senate. If control of the Senate either way comes down to a seat or two the campaign season will rage on and things may be as up & down and volatile as the stock market for some time to come. When a coup was last attempted on Silver it was by Majority Leader Michael Bragman who was anything but progressive, he was pro NRA etc. I do not chide the WFP for their choice at all in the Silver primary.

by: TruBlu @ Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 12:17:02 PM UTC

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We Write Letters - Vote Change Like You Mean It | 6 comments

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