{"article":{"id":97728,"heading":"IndyVoter opens its doors","author":"Billy Wimsatt","created":"2003-12-18 04:28:47","modified":"2003-12-21 01:07:49","last_modified":"Sun, 21 Dec 2003 08:07:49","article":"

Background:

One year ago, I sent out an email to 120 hip-hop activists and political organizers proposing that we come together and start a \"League\" to create local progressive voter guides and voting blocs across the country. You wrote back with a 50% response rate! It was such an obvious idea. I couldn't believe no organization was already doing this. I felt like: Does the progressive movement have a brain? My co-founder Kyle

Stewart and I called up every voting group in the country and they all said the same thing: No one is doing this. You folks should do it.

So we sent out another email to 300 people saying: Hey, are you serious? If so, volunteer! Again, we got a 50% response rate and more than 60 people volunteered. We were like: Holy Shit! We need to build an organization to channel this. We spent the next six months surveying people, researching models, building partnerships, filing paperwork, coordinating volunteers, laying the foundation.

Then Adrienne Brown came along and said: \"Hey, you need a Steering Committee.\" So she organized a Steering Committee of 12 of the most dedicated, talented people to build the organization. One year after the first email went out, we're up and running.

What We've Accomplished so Far:

We have a fiscal sponsor, funding, an office, staff, a website, more than 50 volunteers working on a weekly basis, and 7 interns.

We've organized 3 national gatherings, held more than 50 local ones in 14 states, and piloted two local voter guides -in Cincinnati and New Orleans- with a great response. Our model works! It gets people who hate\/ignore local politics to become involved\/obsessed; precisely our intent.

We hired CTSG (the top progressive online company which does back-end programming for Moveon.org, etc.) to build our online tools. We're not playing.

We created a book How to Get Stupid White Men Out Of Office (out in March) with 20 success stories of young people from 16 states who swung or won elections, from city council to US Senate- and a 12 author, 80 city swing state tour. It's gonna be huge; it will revolutionize the way young people think about electoral politics. We've already gotten 9,200 pre-orders from bookstores.

And that was just testing the waters.

Waters = tested. Time to give stank politicians a bath.

In 2004, we're unveiling our multi-state \"voter organizer\" trainings, and a comprehensive online\/offline week-by-week, precinct-by-precinct ground campaign in the six months leading up to the November 2 election.

We call it November Surprise.

You'll see.

Want to be part of it?

Go to http:\/\/www.Indyvoter.org<\/a> RIGHT NOW. Sign up.<\/p>\n","contact":"contactus@indyvoter.org","link":"http:\/\/www.indyvoter.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"IndyVoter.org aka The League of Independent Voters is kicking off. IndyVoter is a new progressive grassroots network that aims to get the under 35 crowd into the electoral process. It's part MoveOn.org, part Meetup.com, part IndyMedia and all about social justice and empowerment of the people for the people. Check us out for more info, and PLEASE join us for a kick ass future in 2004!","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/12\/97728.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":97763,"heading":"This is disgusting. How cheap.","article":""The League of Indepenent Voters" is "a new progressive grassroots network" and "It's part MoveOn.org"\r\n\r\nNone of this makes any sense at all.\r\n\r\nWhy does a network of so-called "independent voters" have to be "progressive"? And anyone that knows anything about Moveon.org knows that it is predominantly a liberal organization. \r\n\r\nNone of this has anything to do independent voting and everything to do about campaigning for the liberal Democrats, exactly the same as this psyop indymedia network. They'd have you believe they are radicals, socialists, and activists. But really, they're just doing the bidding of liberals.\r\n\r\nI have always admired the concept of "Open Publishing" though. I take advantage of my freedom of speech every chance I get. Unfortunately indymedia's idea of open publishing dictates that it also must be "progressive" in nature and typically they like to "edit" out reality.\r\n\r\n","author":"Max","parent_id":97728,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-12-18 13:24:50","modified":"2003-12-18 13:24:50","fileurl":""}]}