There are 5 counties-- or parts of counties-- within the boundaries of Florida's 11th district north of Tampa: Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter. Retirees from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan drove down I-75 and settled here, a different breed of the retirees from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey who drove down the I-95 to Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
OK, fellas, YOUR election is over, so... what about ours now?-by Alice MarshallI knew there was popular mobilization like no other time in my life, but I did not realize how great it was until I saw this comment at Daily Kos: "Organization is also a bottom-up thing starting with organizing at the precinct and county level.
Grover Cleveland is the only mayor (Buffalo) to become president. Will Eric Garcetti be the 2nd?-by Alice MarshallHave you ever wondered how it's possible for such rotten Republicans to get elected? Or how it is possible to smear good progressive politicians? Lack of information.This is especially true of local elected officials. How many people could name their state legislators, even less discuss their legislative record? Very few.
If Democrats are to retake the House in 2018, they will need to start work now, in elections of 2017. In spite of gerrymandering, in spite of voter suppression, Democrats can make major gains in local elections that will set them up for success in 2018.
On Wednesday Alice Marshall did a guest post about grassroots electoral organizing, riffing on the book she authored, The Precinct Captain's Guide To Political Victory, and the response was so overwhelming that we asked her to do a follow-up, which she did (below).
A friend of mine in Fairfax County, Virginia recounted how this past election the Chair of the Fairfax Democrats had run her own canvassing operation because she was not satisfied with the one being run by the joint campaign. Every year Fairfax Democrats set up a joint campaign so that volunteers support every Democrat up for office rather than requiring each campaign to recruit their own volunteers.
