Local Progressive Voter Guides (Share Like Crazy)

Which is better, voter guides or sliced bread?

I say voter guides.

Please drop whatever you're doing right now (you're reading my article so technically you're all mine for the next 60 seconds). We're going to swing an election together. Somewhere in the country. Right now. Click on TheBallot.org. Find a local progressive voter guide for your town, and share it with everyone you know. Right now.

Go ahead. I'll wait...

Ok... GOOD JOB! We just helped swing an election together, somewhere in the country.

This handy new tool TheBallot.org has aggregated more than 350 local progressive and non-partisan voter guides. Some were created by well-known progressive groups like Sierra Club and SEIU, but a lot of the best ones were created by individuals or small informal groups. It's not too late to make your own.

Our short-term goal is to get tens of thousands more 2008 Obama voters to come out, cast informed votes this Tuesday, and get their friends to do the same.

The truth is that most of us have no freaking clue what is on our ballots -- especially down ballot stuff (judges, county assessors, local ballot measures, etc). Honestly, it's intimidating, even for me. But Local Voter guides don't just help with down ballot. The act of creating, reading, and sharing local voter guides makes us knowledgeable, confident, and empowered to share the guides with our friends and talk to them about what's on the ballot, and the importance of voting on TUESDAY.

It's amazing: As individuals armed with homemade voter guides, we can have the same impact as a powerful interest group or a newspaper editorial board -- the power to influence and turn-out hundreds and thousands of new votes.

The reason why I'm so passionate about home-made local voter guides isn't just about Tuesday's election. It's the start of a 21st Century model of how we can build an empowered hyper-local progressive political movement from the ground up.

AND it's about helping win and swing as many elections as possible on Tuesday -- at all levels.

We are in for some real nail-biters, folks.

For the Love of God, It's time to pull out all the stops!

We can be the margin of victory in squeaky close elections. Remember:

2000 Florida Presidential Race: 537 votes.
2004 Washington State Governor's race: 127 Votes.
2008 Minnesota Senate Race: 312 votes.

As Karl Rove reminds us, the 2006 mid-term election -- the sweeping Democratic victory, which gave Dems control of both Chambers of Congress-- was decided by only 10,000 votes in the Senate (in two states) and less than 80,000 votes in the House (spread across 14 districts). Several House races were decided by less than 1000 votes.

30 Million of the 69 Million Obama 2008 voters will NOT vote again in 2010 --unless we personally remind them. If just 10% more than the expected number of 2008 Obama voters vote again, we would crush the Tea Party from coast to coast.

I bet you have at least 20 friends in your phone and Facebook right now who are totally down vote on Tuesday --but they need you to personally remind them.

Please call them right now. There are moments in history where we need to DROP EVERYTHING. We can NOT let the Tea Party win. Please start Facebooking, Tweeting, Blogging, Calling, Knocking Doors like crazy: TheBallot.org

We can DO this! 32 Hours left until the polls close. It's Progressive Comeback Time!

 

Follow Billy Wimsatt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/billywimsatt

Comments

[RRK70]

07:16 PM on 11/01/2010

my local "progressive" guide suggests/endorses voting republicant in a state senate race. I just checked the democratic option and it is superior. Do some research, don't blindly trust these "guides"

[George Hanshaw]

02:49 PM on 11/01/2010

"Our short-term goal is to get tens of thousands more 2008 Obama voters to come out, cast informed votes this Tuesday, and get their friends to do the same. "

Unfortunately for the dems, that is precisely what IS happening. It's the independents, the women, .... almost all of the groups that went for him in 2008, that ARE coming out and voting against the dems.

This time they ARE informed votes.

[steve11407]

01:49 PM on 11/01/2010

pie in the sky.:=)

[soitgoes12]

01:38 PM on 11/01/2010

I know a lot of progressives have been disappointed with the Obama administration. They have continued the war efforts, continued to cater to big business, made healthcare and financial reform bills weaker and didn't get any votes from the other side for it.

With that being said, there are still 2 distinct options. It's depressing that we are stuck voting for the lesser of two ev.ils, but now is not the time to be apathetic. If you aren't campaigning all year round for the true progressive candidates, then you have no right to complain that you only have 2 corportists to chose from come election time. However, I will take my Democratic corporatists over the Republican Corporatists any day of the week, because I remember what the Repbulicans truly stand for:

http://www­­­.dailyko­s­.­com/st­or­yo­nly/­201­0/1­0/­28/9­1468­­4/-I-­Reme­m­ber

http://www­.rawstory.­com/rs/201­0/09/gop-p­ledge-clos­ing-argume­nt-voters/

And no matter how much the media wants to magnify this administration's failures, there have been many successes that have gone unnoticed by most:

http://oba­­­maachiev­e­m­ents.o­rg­/l­ist#­top

http://pol­itifact.co­m/truth-o-­meter/prom­ises/rulin­gs/promise­-kept/

[ArkenV]

12:39 PM on 11/01/2010

In the future, please put this guide out sooner for all of those mail-in voters!

[RichieB56]

12:29 PM on 11/01/2010

I agree with him that we need better informed voters I disagree with his definition of infromed being Obama voters..(I daresay it is the opposite but why bother). A truly infromed voter, on either side, would already know long ago how they are voting. I can recite all of my choices on the ballot perfectly and casting it will take about 1 minute. All you need to know is out there on the web and in newspapers. My state also prints and extensive guide and mails it to everyone. How much more do these idtiots need? If you don't know by now perhaps you should stay home and don't waste our time in line.

[Paul Loeb]

10:54 AM on 11/01/2010

This is really important races because the down ballot races matter enormously, for now and the future.

[hmoats]

10:48 AM on 11/01/2010

This is wonderful! When it comes to informed voting the amount of research can be overwhelming. It's nice to have a solid foundation and touch stone of truth in this election.