Be Honest: Would You Give Two Hours a Week?

[MannyGoldstein]

One of the great difficulties that I see in ridding ourselves of the Fringe Right is that we on the Left have trouble reaching out beyond our own. We congregate on DU and other sites and preach to the choir - but we do a terrible job of getting out to the "middle third" of the our country, the one-third of the populace that pushes elections to one side or the other.

The Right is fortunate in that it (pretty much) owns the media - other than the NY Times and a few other beacons of truth. Through ownership of the media, the Right can spew their caustic propaganda day after day until they achieve "proof by repetition" - and folks like Bush, DeLay, and so forth get into office.

If we on the Left want to move things forward, we need to do something to get into the public eye - I'm not sure if it's taking to the streets, handing out flyers, giving talks, or gang-mooning the White House. But we have to do something, or else we lose - to the Republicans, or to the DLC (The Other Republicans).

Here's my question: how many folks would be willing to dedicate two hours a week to doing something for the cause? Can we walk the walk, or have we become too swamped by work, family, school, and TV to get up off our arses and do something?

Any and all thoughts appreciated.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

1. I will give even more

see my post in Mass forum, and PM me
if you're really willing to give

[applegrove]

2. I think it is great to start talking about it. We all have to gear up

for the election. And as Dems are a big tent (the only way they ever win majorities .. or anyone does in the USA) - we also need to gear up to be more tolerant of Democrats who see the world slightly differently than we do.

Good post.

[wildeyed]

3. It is hard for me to tell how much time DU'ers actually put into

activism. I spend a fair amount of time volunteering and organizing in the real world. My sense is that a lot of others here do, too. For me DU is a place to come, get caught up on the news and kick back with like-minded people. There is an Activism forum and last week we were talking about starting a Group specifically for people who are involved with or interesting in getting involved with the dem party on the precinct level. I got some really excellent suggestions from the thread, so I will probably pursue that next week with the admins if someone else hasn't already.

I do agree with you. If everyone puts in just two hours per week, we could turn our party around. Individually, most of our efforts are pretty weak, but together we are strong.