Michael, Jason, Welcome to the Lake.

Toby, Thank you for Hosting today’s Book Salon.

hi everyone; please welcome Michael and Jason – I’m looking forward to an exciting discussion of what we can all do as individuals to help move the vision of ‘change’ in America. Remember, everyone, be nice – use your indoor voices — and keep your hands to yourselves.

Thank you for taking the time to connect with us today. Michael Huttner

Hey Michael – welcome!! First, let me thank you for coming here to day to talk about your book and what we can all do.

Michael – here’s my first question – how did you and Jason decide to do this book? And why 50?

Thank you for having me here…yes we wrote this book to answer the question of what people can do to see progressive change in this country and certainly see the core campaign goals of Candidate Obama become a reality now that he is President.

Michael – I think we all know that there is a lot of frustration and disappointment out there — we seem really stuck at this point. How will picking things out of the book help?

Jason and I wrote the book after we heard so many folks ask what can they do to help now that President Obama was elected. During the inauguration my wife Debbie turned to me after herself hearing this same question and said why don’t you write a book to help answer that question. The book is our–my coauthor Jason and I –small contribution to helping provide a handbook for change. There are 50 because we wanted to provide different strategies and tactics for folks across the country, whether creating change in their home, their community, across the country or even around the world. We have added an additional chapter 51 calling on folks to submit their ideas but we thought 50 rather than 51 sounded better. And 100 was too many to provide enough focus.

Hi Michael
where do we start?

This book is about empowering progressives in their community. The more we can empower progressives throughout the country the more pressure we can apply on our elected officials and for that matter the President and, in turn, the less they will have to compromise. Many of the chapters our techniques we have learned through trial and error turning Colorado from a right-wing led state– to a somewhat progressive state over the past three election cycles.

Well, with 50, people can actually open the book once a week and point at something and do it that week – a lot of the activities are small and simple enough that someone can do something once a week and have an effect.

I think we start with the fights in front of us. The most important of course being health care right now. If we do not keep pressure on in the days and weeks ahead we are going to have to concede way too much. Until we get through the health care fight everything else–at least at the federal level–is going to be largely on hold.

Michael, one of the things that I ask myself a lot is, “how much change did we expect to happen when we elected Barack Obama president?” I think a good deal of the disappointment is that we failed to understand that when the election was over (no matter how tired and burned out people were), the work was really just starting.

Welcome authors. Thanks Toby.

You know that old song about 50 Ways to Leave your Lover? Looking at the liberal blogs, it seems like more people are interested in leaving Obama than helping him.

Michael, what specifically should we be doing in the health care legislation going on in Congress?

I like that we are planning to post a weekly update which will highlight one of the ways on our webste http://www.50WaysYouCanHelpObama.com, our facebook page “Help Obama Change America” and people can follow us on twitter HelpObamaNow great thought about the calendar–I cannot take credit for having thought of that:)

Hey, Cassie!!!

A weekly update, like a ‘to do’ list for people? We use that here a lot. “To the Phones!!” is a biggie.

Yes this a concern…I’d submit people should be more focused on pressuring their elected officials to help Obama make serious changes than focusing so questions/going after the President. This is not straight up about following President Obama or any other person, this is about creating progressive power –I’d submit largely at the state and local level–so President Obama has to compromise less, especially with the conservatives and blue dogs.

Welcome to FDL this afternoon Michael.

I have not had an opportunity to read your book but do have a question.

How are we supposed to get revved up for the change we voted for when in a lot of areas, it appears that the specific change desired has been put on hold if not totally abandoned?

Health Care Reform is itself an example of this when it appears the WH (and yes, that includes President Obama) is quite willing and eager to abandon Public Option so long as they can claim victory even if it becomes an Insurance Industry bailout.

Yes and to your point simple timely and direct. Much time progressives spend a lot of time analyzing what they should do rather than doing. so we’ll look to keep them simply and practical and timely.

Hi Aunt Toby!!

Michael I HAVE read the book and one of the things I really like about it is that for those of us who just got started dipping our toes into getting involved politically, it’s a great ‘guidebook’ – very much organized around not only stating the issues, but also providing information that we can use when we talk to people, simple things to do, and especially how to actually do them. For those of us who want to get more involved but are a little bit shy, this is a great set up because you can just open the book, read the item, and fulfill the instruction and you are done. You’ve made it inconvenient NOT to do it.

As much as we can point fingers at the President and his Administration and I’ve had my fair share of concerns, I’d submit that the power is in the people…if we keep the pressure on he’ll compromise less. When you have the health insurance lobby now spending over a million a day to kill any meaningful health care reform the burden is on all of us to keep the pressure up through, blogs, email, new media, and traditional organizing tactics at the local level to help ensure that President Obama has the votes. Without the votes we have nothing.

Thanks…that was the goal. We hope that everyone that picks up this book finds something useful that they can do that they also enjoy. Perhaps the biggest fight that we are facing is that many people become less interested if you don’t have excitement of a political campaign with a end date. So we need folks to get involved and get active.

I think the biggest issue for people out there is that they sort of ‘ran out of gas’ after the Inauguration – especially after they realized that the Republicans are committed to fighting the progressive agenda every step of the way..even if it means the country goes into the toilet. What people need to understand is that the fight actually STARTED on Inauguration Day. Obama is not a magician – he doesn’t have a wand to make all the sorry and poison go away. Who is going to do the work this is going to require if we do not? The Republicans and the Far Right have never stopped doing their thing, not for a second.

How much has progressive disappointment with Obama’s many walk-backs (of campaign promises) deflated the energy and number of people willing to continue the work on the ground?

I think it’s critical that if you and the people your closest with have not contacted your members of Congress and U.S. Senators since Labor Day whether through calls, letter writing or new media to do so. Also it’s important that if you have friends in a number of key states–i.e. those with Blue Dog Senators–they call their Senators and ask for the public option and more agressive reform. Specifically, let your friends and family know to if they live in Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Nebraska and North Carolina and North Dakota. Those are places where key Dems –and the one moderate Republican–need to hear more from us.

TobyWollin, Excellent lead in! One thing that I noticed is that the right wing media now have demonstrated that not only will they attack Obama, but they will take down people who work for him. They tried guilt by associate during the campaign (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers) now they are getting people fired. Van Jones and ACORN.

We talk about what Glenn Beck is doing as if it is a forgone conclusion, but I like to remind people that Beck is responding to losing 100 advertisers and his lashing out is both personal and financial. Hannity is on a mission to get Kevin Jennings fired and I don’t see why he hasn’t been sued by Jennings for slander.

Do you talk in your book about a strategy to help in this area?

that’s right in fact the far right–and for that matter hate groups activity is on the rise in the past six months and it’s not simply the number of incidents but the severity of actions taken…change is never easy to a country and there many people who don’t want to see change and they play–many paid to play–to the worst in people and their fears.

Michael, have you seen the report from Democracy Corps – it was covered on Friday. There’s a lot of scary stuff in there about the Far Right in terms of how they view Obama, but when you boil everything down, the big thing, the nexus of their hatred is that they don’t want anything to change. Change scares the living daylights out of them.

Pressing Obama to do what he should do?

Yes, chapter 36 is about holding extremists accountable. It gives some very specific actions folks can take–for example countering teabag parites and other right-wing press shows–as well as very specific resources like Citizens for Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Media Matters as well as the websites for the ProgressNow state partners that I founded and works to hammer the right in strategic states.

I’m sorry, I’d like to be “welcoming” and all that, but I don’t have the idea that Obama himself is doing anything to “change America.”

Most efforts around here are devoted to attempting to get Obama to follow through on the promises he made, to undo the bad things he’s done by inaction or continuation of Bush’s policies [I'm thinking of FISA, failure to prosecute Bush law-breakers, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and on & on].

The book’s title contains an assumption, mainly that Obama is trying to “change America” [in, presumably, ways that we'd like] and therefore we should “help” him.

I just don’t agree with that assumption, and don’t see any proof of it.

And Michael [@23], it’s not the lack of the “excitement of a political campaign.” It’s the crushing disappointment of a President who both won’t lead and who gets in bed [repeatedly] with the “bad guys” [insurance companies, big Pharma, Olympia Snowe, Judd Gregg etc.]

And Toby [@25], it’s not that we “ran out of gas;” it’s that this President has NEVER shown any leadership, never articulated goals and asked for support, has done bad, dirty deals behind closed doors, leaving progressives and others out in the cold.

That’s not a team I want to play on or root for. And I’m a life-long, serious, committed Democrat.

Disagree. Obama is a magician. He waved his magic wand and transformed himself from the progressive platform he ran on into the usual corporate pol.

Essentially, continue Howard Dean’s grassroots work, and be willing to put in the same sort of hours that the right-wingers do.

I think at heart President Obama is progressive if he has the votes. I think he would like to see more change than has occurred and he has not been shy about he and his organization –OFA–asking for help. Yet without the help of the people across the country and especially in states where the Dems are compromising too much, he alone cannot drive the change that many of us would like to see done sooner rather than later.

OK..so what are we going to do? Abandon the field to the Right and the Rethugs?

One thing that I noticed is that the right wing media now have demonstrated that not only will they attack Obama, but they will take down people who work for him. They tried guilt by associate during the campaign (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers) now they are getting people fired. Van Jones and ACORN.

Not so sure it’s about trying Obama’s friends for their association to him, but about attacking Obama by proxy.

eCAHN – you and I have discussed before, during the campaign as to how progressive Obama was and is – but he’s our horse and we’ve got to ride him. Or, we give up the race and let the darkness take over again…no one ever said this was going to be easy, quick or painless.

I completely agree. The best way to help President Obama and begin the work of remaking America is to force President Obama to remember who he said he was when he ran for the office and to remind him and all the Democrats in the House and Senate why the American people elected them all and gave them such large majorities.

eCAHN at 35

I think you are being very charitable.

Michael – I think President Obama is like FDR in that he really wants us to ‘make’ him do what we want him to do. It does require us to make a lot of effort.

No one ever said this was going to be easy, quick or painless.

It’s not about going quickly or painlessly. It’s about fighting for the right things and moving in the right direction. Obama isn’t.

‘ran out of gas’ after the Inauguration – especially after they realized that the Republicans are committed to fighting the progressive agenda every step of the way..even if it means the country goes into the toilet.

I agree. And it’s fraking exhausting. What is especially frustrating is that after all that work there is a certain amount of “punching the bloggers/hippies” that we see so the feeling is, “Why keep fighting when our efforts are just going to be ignored?”

I knew that Obama’s election would energize the right wing nuts on radio and TV. I’ve been following them for years. Now they are bringing their guns to political rallies. They will work the money intimation at the national lobbying level and the physical violence intimidation at the local level, what the response to that?

And finally, the liberal equivalent of the Heritage foundation, AEI and the Scaifes aren’t willing to pay for help, they assume we will do it for free. Maybe that says something about their followers, but it kind of sucks that there aren’t any big 8 peace firms who are hiring.

OK, Knoxville – how do we do that? What’s the marching orders?

And, it will be appreciated by all if we stay on topic, which is a discussion of the book. thank you.

Michael, this [the "contact your reps"] is some thing people around here have done again and again and again.

One big problem has been that because Obama refused to articulate even GOALS with regard to a health care bill [for example, cover uninsured; cut costs; end inusrance comapany abuses], there’s nothing to write “about.”

Organize for America sends out these feeble “calls to arms” urging people to write in, but they’ve got NOTHING — no direction, no list of “this must be included,” just a “support the President [and whatever it is that he wants].”

Again, I want results, not a personality fan club. OFA is beyond worthless. And I write this as someone who used to work in a Congressional office and knows how constituent mail is read/regarded.

As I mentioned, this book is not about following President Obama or any elected…this is about empowering progressives, I believe that while we can find many places to criticize we need to keep our eye on the ball. With the health care fight we need to ensure that people and their electeds are focused on the money the health insurance lobby pouring in. And yes when it comes to financial reform–hammer the banks on Wall Street that are working over this Administration to water down and change legislation overseeing them….but keep the eye on the influences and follow the money and the political agenda. We need to be careful not to be helping Glen Beck weaken President Obama–he may be the most progressive President we’ll have in our lifetimes if we keep up the fight.

In response to TobyWollin @ 46

OK, Knoxville – how do we do that? What’s the marching orders?

I’m not here to give orders.

And, it will be appreciated by all if we stay on topic, which is a discussion of the book. thank you.

We are discussing the book. Who’s not discussing the book and what the book aims at accomplishing?

Wall St. isn’t just pressuring Obama, it’s embedded in the WH, deliberately so. And if O’s the most progressive prez in our lifetimes, all is truly lost, since he isn’t progressive at all.

OK. I’ll be quite now.

I think that’s a false and insulting “alternative.”

No, we do what we’ve been doing around here: pressuring Dems to be more progressive, “talking back” to the DNC, DCCC, DSCC and OFA when they send us those milquetoast pleas for $$$, searching for and supporting progressive candidates.

The snotty Democratic response to those of us on the left — “where else are you going to go?” and that we’re just Cheeto-eating, pajama-clad losers — is not likely to win our support.

Ditto the suggestion that we’re either “for” Obama or supporting the wingers.

Michael, you talked about a site – do you have plans to connect up with local groups?

I think at heart President Obama is progressive if he has the vote

What is your evidence to support this belief? Other than his talk?

He made a boatload of bold promises of change during the election, but virtually all of his policy decisions and most of his appointments to-date betray a center-right corporatist ideology that fundamentally protects the status quo (at least in the most import areas).

Seems to me this is why progressives are sitting out the ground war. They have no belief that their “leader” will back up their efforts with anything more than stirring speeches.

Co-author Jason Salzman here. Sorry for being late.

I agree and have personally witnessed what I would call email fatigue among progressives across the country. That said we have an opportunity through the use of new media to be more influential at a lower costs–e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. If you are the right the thing they hope for most is that they build momentum now and through 2010–which of course leads to redistricting–by having progressives point fingers. In fact it’s part of the playbook we used against the right here in Colorado–raise question and in-fighting and watch them self-destruct. We need to learn from their mistakes and not fall in the same trap during this critical time.

eCHAN

Why do you think you need to be quiet? The goal is to help Obama be the President that he said he would be and to remake the United States.

Welcome Jason — tell us about your connection to the book and how you got involved.

Yes the book offers a number of specific recommneded resources throughout the country. Most of the groups we put in are in multiple states to make them accessible by most, if not, all readers. The organization I founded ProgressNow is in 12 states-see ProgressNow.org and there are other groups like US Action, State Voices, America Votes, all of which are progressive–not through any political party–and are quite effective.

Well, I wrote a book called 50 Ways You Can Show George the Door in 2004. It was a complete failure, politics-wise and sales-wise, but I had the right background to join Mike in writing this book. He asked me to join him.

OK..so what are we going to do? Abandon the field to the Right and the Rethugs?

If necessary, yes. You’re solution is to write essays on how we will help the President change America.

Let’s start by making him and the majorities in the Democratic House and Senate listen to America.

It took the base of the Republican Party six years to begin to see that the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress weren’t really interested in working for their interests.

On the other hand, it has taken less than six months for the base of the Democratic Party to see that the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress are going to throw away once-in-a-generation opportunities to bring real change on behalf of all Americans.

Unless we see change, we’ll be showing them all the exit very, very soon.

I need to pass on to Jason. But thank you Beverly and Jane and all the folks with Firedoglake for having me on. If folks like, join our facebook “Help Obama Change America” and if you want to contact me directly with any ideas or questions email me at michael@progressnow.org thank you all.

Thank you Michael; we appreciate your coming to help with the discussion.

Speaking of change, Obama’s made the most progress in terms of promoting nuclear disarmament: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/18/794610/-They-are-saluting-his-commitment-to-disarmament

By the way, I agree with most of what you’re saying with regards to the necessity of individuals working to create change by applying pressure at all levels from the ground up.

Maybe your challenge is to find a way to energize people who aren’t particularly interested in helping Obama, or the Democratic party.

Exactly. But the reflexive cynics on the lefty side don’t want to see that, because it would require them to exert effort on a par with what the righties exert. It’s always been much harder to motivate lefties, as organizers from Alinsky to Hunter Thompson knew.

I think at heart President Obama is progressive if he has the votes

I’m confused – does this mean that he has no actual progressive convictions and, like Captain Renault in Casbalanca, he blows with the wind, the prevailing wind in this case coming from the same corporatist, market fundamentalist and national security state folks we’ve been stuck with since Ronnie Raygun was in office?

Good. I’ve already messed with the local tea parties. Here is my diary on it. (How to Kick Tea Bagging Sponsors in the Wallet And Mess up their Media Coverage)

In SF I set up the local radio broadcast corporation (KSFO/ABC/Citadel) to be financially responsible for any violence at the event and convinced the media to ask them questions about their previous violent rhetoric and inaccurate comments. In addition I’ve noticed that whenever they now make calls to action when gathering their tea party mobs that they have to say it’s a “peaceful” protest.

When Obama came into town last Friday they had to talk about “greeting the president” instead of a “show down at high noon” like they used to. They have to tone down their violent comments because if violence did break out I had made it clear that they would be who the injured parties should look to for financial damages.

THAT is what the corporations who support the right wing hosts care about, “will this riot cost us money that is more than the ratings we might get?”

Remember right now Fox News is subsidizing Glenn Beck, they OWN him, they are his main sponsor. At what point might Fox News be sued for sedition? (Remember how they accused us of that? Projection.) Fox is now actively sponsoring someone who talks about a violent overthrow of the government. But we can not even bring that up without hearing the screams of “free speech!” We need to at least point this out to the rest of the media.

From where I sit, one of the strengths of the book is that it gives people the instructions for getting involved at the local level, which I think is really going to be crucial if progressives are going to be able to build a movement and organization that will continue in the long term.

My suggestion, “book-wise,” would be to change the title of the book to “50 Things You Can Do to Force Obama to Keep the Promises He Made During the Campaign and to Generally Do What’s Right for America.”

No unsupported assumptions in that title.

I think we need to err on the side of supporting Obama, especially over the next six months or so. He needs to show success now. And this will help him be more progressive later.

So that means we should push his agenda on health care. That’s the public option. And set aside some of our serious problems with his Administration for now.

Jason – back to you. In terms of writing a book like this one (and especially your former unhappy experience), is timing everything?

I agree with Toby.

The book is about building progressive power mostly through grassroots organizing and volunteerism. That’s long-term.

Our book isn’t a good policy guide. It doesn’t have answers for how progressives should deal with Obama if he’s not being progressive enough for us.

My view is that, for now, if you are so unhappy with Obama that you can’t, for example, get on his agenda and support the public option and organize around it, then you NOT focus on Washington for a while. Instead, volunteer at a school or register voters.

In publishing, but not all aspects of life, timing is everything. And marketing, of course.

If this book had come out in Jan., we’d have sold more copies and, more importantly, made more of a difference. Still, this was worth it.

Agreed. And though I’ve not read the book, it sounds like they have both good ideas and actual experience to back them up.

I’m arguing is that Obama is sucking energy from what would normally be the most committed people because of his many walk-backs and apparent unwillingness to fight on behalf of political allies – particularly progressives.

His charisma and compelling personal story distract us from the fact that he is fundamentally a product of the system and his identity is deeply embedded in it. This seems counter-intuitive, but watch his actions and not his talk. He consistently presents as an ardent defender of the system, whose belief is that it’s simply a little damaged. Tinker around the edges a bit and all will be well with America.

I’m sorry. I’m trying to fade into the woodwork. But when I see you say:

we should push his agenda on health care. That’s the public option

I have such a visceral reaction: where on earth did you get the idea that the Public Option is “Obama’s agenda”? He hasn’t spoken up for it. He has said it’s “one option.” He hasn’t been willing to get his hands dirty and go down to the Hill to twist some elbows for it. In fact, he calls in Dems to twist their arms to support weak bills/provisions. And he’s courted those Democrats and Republicans who’ve been opposed to the public option, and not in a way of trying to change their minds, but to assure them that his bill will be to their liking.

This is not an “opinion” or “grudge.” I worked for Obama, for something like 15 months. I gave the maximum amount of money. I pestered friends & family to give and get involved. And I’ve followed closely what he’s said & done re health care.

This is not a time for wishful or deluded thinking. And a cold, harsh look at the proposals Obama & Rahm are pushing, just so they can have a “signing ceremony” in the Rose Garden, reveals something that’s bad for the Democratic Party [working folks are just going to love those mandates enforced by the IRS + no cost controls] and the country in general. I’m not willing to sell both down the river just so Obama can look “strong.”

And this will help him be more progressive later.

You’re joking, right? He’s throwing away once-in-a-generation opportunities to bring real change.

So that means we should push his agenda on health care.

We should push his agenda, and that’s the public option, you say? He should push it then. He should be shaming the Blue Dogs – who have threatened the majority of the Senate to join with Republicans if the public option is in the merged Senate bill – and shame them publicly.

The book isn’t for those of us with a lot of political experience. It’s actually best for people who are trying to figure out what civic engagement means, and where they fit in. Maybe that sounds simplistic, but it was our hope that it would fit the bill for a lot of Obama supporters whose major political experience in life was doing something during the presidential campaign, even if all they did was vote or check out a political blog during the campaign.

Do real Progressives actually vote for real Corporatist DLC types? The party is morally bankrupt, for Pete’s sake, – Obama’s own mother died fighting the Industry, and this offal coddles them.

Am I missing something?

Jason – one of the things that I see, especially from reading the Democracy Corps. report, The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans” is that if we are really going to make change happen, it has to be on a local, person to person, neighbor to neighbor, us working with your kids at the school basis. Change cannot take place where there are a core of people out there who believe that their values and ideas are mocked and that the only person who speaks to them and for them is Glenn Beck. We really ARE all in this together and it will take local involvement to make change happen.

The book is about building progressive power mostly through grassroots organizing and volunteerism. That’s long-term.

It doesn’t have answers for how progressives should deal with Obama if he’s not being progressive enough for us.

Take a look at the big, bold title of the book.

It’s hard to help when you’re under the bus — as I and every other member of LBGT community has been since day one. We get promises, speeches, and coctails. Speakign as a 62 year-old gay man I can get the same with a lot less effort on a halfway decent Saturday Night in Chelsea.

Yes, he should be shaming the Blue Dogs, but it’s actually more important for us to shaming them. Where have we been? We got our butts kicked this summer.

Yes Obama is tinkering around the edges. And he’s a product of this system. That’s the reality until we build more progressive power in this country, and the book has good info to help people get started on this.

I’m all for calling on Obama to push the public option harder, but he can’t do it without concurrent pressure from the bottom up.

I had the same problem. Tried to leave, but kept seeing too much nonsense.

I’m going to respect what eCAHN did by making a statement on the record, so to speak, and exiting.

I’ve sufficiently contributed to this conversation by pointing out that it’s misguided.

Their response has sadly been to ignore me, so now I too will leave these fine people to their happy delusions.

As eCAHN wrote @ 52, “OK. I’ll be quite now.”

Good point. (though the health care / public option fight seems to be the one fight where people have remained engaged in spite of their disappointment / distrust with Obama and the WH)

Definitely agree with your primary focus of getting people to work directly at the local level for change they desire.

I don’t know you but I think I love you.

HA! :lol:

The single most important thing you can do is write your Senators and Congressperson a letter in strong support of your issue [i.e. healthcare reform]. Mail that letter to the local in-state office. Make it your own words, not boilerplate. And tell ‘em you are their voter.

Then go ask five local friends and/or family to do the same.

No bitchin’ until you’ve done that.

Own the change.

What? 77% of Americans isn’t enough? That’s absurd.

And more to the point, there are some problems Obama is contributing to, which I’d like to see undone; for instance FISA, blocking investigations wrt torture, etc.

I voted for Nader in 2000. I remained unrepentant but Bush got so bad I started http://www.repentantnadervoter.com in 2003.

Nader said the parties were tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

Well, the Dems are still Tweedle dees, but the Republicans are bigots and tyrants. The party has moved to the right. it’s not the party of Dole.

The Republican Party is a real threat to the world.

So we can’t afford to tear down Obama and the Dems now. We need to give Obama a chance. I hate a lot of what he’s done, but he’s facing a rat’s nest in Washington–and if Obama is destroyed and the Republicans rise, we’re screwed.

Exactly.

Salut for your book. Back when I was political consulting for local and state candidates, I wrote How to Win an Election [St. Martin's Press, circa Pleistoscene] precisely because I couldn’t find a primer for candidates.

Nobody can argue they can’t take part because they don’t know what to do. You’ve given the tools. Thank you.

We got our butts kicked this summer

Do you really think that those lunatics shouting at town hall meetings in August were more effective than the hundreds of thousands of letters sent to members of Congress and the White House in Sept and Oct?

Those handful of crazies at the town halls were a pretty fireworks display compared to the big guns that FDL Action, DFA, the PCCC have been firing, all the television ads calling out Senators and Congressmen and all the tough questions we’ve been asking.

I’m all for calling on Obama to push the public option harder, but he can’t do it without concurrent pressure from the bottom up.

You don’t seem to know what it is that the people at Firedoglake have been doing. We are the bottom that’s (concerned citizens who’ve) been applying the pressure.

I really need to submit this comment and close the window before I see any more.

Haven’t you guys checked the polls? The Public Option is OVERWHELMINGLY popular with the General Public.

I really feel that in order to heal the country, it’s going to take local stuff between people – to people to demonster one another. Lots of that activity in the book.

Right. There’s lots of local options in the book.

It’s the heart of the book, and it’s the way to heal the country, yes.

Every time the pressure is applied, out come Obama’s proxies deriding the efforts of the DFH, – what’s that tell us?

I’m all for calling on Obama to push the public option harder, but he can’t do it without concurrent pressure from the bottom up.

Obama should be pushing the public option hard because he believes in its necessity – not backing away from the fight because he’s afraid he might not win. He might not be able to get it done without the bottom up pressure, but he at least has to show he is willing to risk it on his own.

And the equation isn’t static. The more he defends the public option on the merits – in spite of unrelenting political pressure from its enemies – the more people will be willing to stand up and risk themselves to create counter-pressure on congress.

I’m trying to keep my eye on the prize. In the short term, it means giving Obama the success and confidence he needs to succeed at pushing through a more progressive agenda.

In the long term, it means building more power.

All of us should carry around voter-registration cards in our cars or purses or jackets. You can register people yourself, all year.

I agree with you db11.

Thanks. Right back at you.

Here, have some Cheetos.

We should call on Obama to do fight for the public option.

The hard part for us is to refrain from criticizing Obama on Afghanistan, Don’t-ask-Don’t-tell, Middle East, banking, and on and on.

But as hard as it is, the short-term priority is to help him pass a health care bill with a public option.

The single most important thing you can do is write your Senators and Congressperson a letter in strong support of your issue [i.e. healthcare reform].

Own the change.

You’re talking to the wrong people, Sunshine.

Just a small sample:

“The DCCC has got to be joking.”

“If there’s no PO, Dem Senators should vote against cloture”

“Tell Senator Reid to Lead. THE TIME IS NOW!”

“Rep. Weiner’s ‘Stand up for the Public Option!’”

“Congratulations, President Obama!”

More letters, emails, phone calls, faxes – to him and our senators and so on. I beat up my congressman on a regular basis.

I don’t eat Cheetos. But I’ll give them to my kids.

I have a much healthier diet than my kids, whose friends tempt them with junk, junk, and more junk. And so does their mother. Similarly, we have the luxury of being much purer than Obama. How’s that for swinging it back to the desired message.

Lord how I would love to help Obama. Really I would. But that desire diminishes greatly when stuff like this comes out even today:

Obama Not Demanding Public Option In Health Care Negotiations
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/18/obama-not-demanding-publi_n_325124.html

Jarrett: Obama Will not Demand Public Option
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/jarrett-obama-wont-demand-public-option.php?ref=fpb

Guess I am getting weary and tired. Tomorrow may be better.

Pardon me, but I shall not refrain from criticizing for one instant anybody who is doing something bad for the country. I don’t have a “wait” button when it comes to right or wrong.

If George Bush did it and it was bad, then when/if Obama does it too, it’s still bad.

And while yes, the short term goal is health care, but if Obama settles for a weak or no PO without having fought for a strong PO, that tells you exactly how committed he is to progressive values.

Washington DC is full on Cheetos on steroids.

Real progressives eat Cheetos, who knew?

But as hard as it is, the short-term priority is to help force him pass a health care bill with a public option.

Sad that it has to be done, but so be it.

I think if you get weary and tired enough, which is understandable, you should put your energy elsewhere–and you can choose among the many options in our book for grassroots power building. I think it’s ok to give up on Obama, and rational.

But if we’re going to hang in there, for now, we have to hit the wall and keep going, keep trying for the public option.

If we splinter or tear down Obama too much, we’ll lose in DC. You can bet on it. then we lose tweedle dee, but we get serious evil.

It’s hard to be pure, Jason – particularly when it seems that at the national level we can’t have the effect we would like. Locally, we’re dealing with a lot of the right wing, but I think that the only way to move things forward is to actually engage people on the right. As long as they feel their only ‘friends’ are people who say the same things they do, I think they will continue to see anything progressive as frightening.

I did write to my Congressional Rep (Rosa DeLauro)and one of my Senators (Chris Dodd; I regarded writing to Joe-Mentum as a waste of electrons) about health care. I told them in no uncertain terms of my support for single-payer or a strong public option (much stronger than anything that’s on the table now). What I got back from both was essentially a form letter detailing all of their votes on health care issues but no attempt to address the points I raised.

I’m all for communicating our views these folks but they seem to be unresponsive to ordinary citizens unless they are afraid they’ll be criticized on FOX News for not giving a fair hearing to some wingnut. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan can get Tim Geithner on the phone seemingly at will and I suspect AHIP and the Big Pharma folks can do the same with the Administration and Congressional Officials involved with health care legislation.

So, stop already with the dodge about us not pressuring Obama and Congress already to “make them do it”. Big business doesn’t seem to have to work too hard to make Rahm and Barack do their bidding and tell us to STFU.

In response to Jason Salzman @ 112

I think if you get weary and tired enough, which is understandable, you should put your energy elsewhere

I thought I spotted condescension in your first response to me, when you wrote “what are your orders?” [My apologies... that was TobyWollin being condescending earlier.]

Now this is too much.

We’re not children, sir.

Obama has to prove that he deserves our help for his agenda.

Maybe it’s too late on the public option. if so, you really can’t blame obama solely. it’s our fault too.

Jason, I admire your dedication and even agree with most of your proscriptions for change.

But you can see from this discussion, the anger and disappointment with Obama runs deep. The frustration is that the damage was entirely self-inflicted by the WH. Given that they’re not stupid people, one has to conclude that their positions to-date are reflective of their intentions. That is, they don’t really want significant change. Maybe they can be led to it by bottom-up pressure, but it won’t be because they believe in it themselves.

And the amount of actual pressure required from the bottom/left to foment that change probably stops just shy of revolution.

“then we lose tweedle dee, but we get serious evil.”

tweedle dee is the best a Progressive can hope for from the Democratic Party. Real aspirational.

Where do you get condescension from a suggestion to look at other areas to make progressive progress if you’re frustrated with Obama?

It is a form of burnout, where you get extremely tired of dealing with certain problems and people. Applying those energies elsewhere is in no way condescending IMNSVHO

Respectfully, I don’t think you know this audience very well.

We’re not one-issue people, nor naive about politics, and are some of the better foot soldiers in terms of e-mailing, calling, faxing, donating. IN fact, this readership is certainly amongst the most dogged in terms of pursuing the progressive goals.

I’m trying not to be insulted, but you are making it difficult.

Sorry. No condescension intended.

I wish I had the answer. I do have opinions, but I the world looks real bad, and I’m hoping something becomes more clear.

I don’t think the answer lies in reaching across to righties. It’s more along the lines of empowering the disenfranchized. Getting more people to pay attention and turn away from the entertainment culture.

I agree with Mauimom. JUst so disappointed on so many national issues.

How is it that O has an advisor Rahm who is cutting deals with drug co. and insurance co. my senators are being paid off by big business as far as I’m concerned, and you are asking us to support O. I hear the pain every day from FDL, people writing and calling and then the WH seems to slap us in the face. I write weekly to all of them to no avail. When is Rahm coming out on PO? :)

As we come to the end of this Book Salon,

Michael, Jason, Thank you for stopping by the Lake and spending the afternoon discussing your new book and how progressives can get involved in the political process.

Toby, Thank you very much for Hosting is Book Salon.

Everyone, if you haven’t read Michael and Jason’s book yet, here is a link.

Thanks all.

Thanks so much for coming in, Jason; I appreciate your participation.

Until we build more progressive power, we’re not going to get much better than tweedle dee. In fact, I can’t imagine getting better than Obama. He’s an opportunity that’s probably better than we’re going to get in our lifetimes, because it’s not a short-term proposition to build the power we want from the bottom up.

I don’t see this audience as any different from myself. I’m doing what you’re doing. This is the kind of conversation I have with myself and my friends all the time.

Sorry, I read the comment to mean that when we get weary and tired enough [of complaining about Obama and the Democratic Congress], we’ll start acting like adults and try making “real” contributions.

The funny thing is that I’ve never been anything but a moderate Democrat my entire adult life (almost twenty years), right up until the last couple of months.

Obama pushed me to the left when he started moving to the center-right. Or, should I say, I’m still a moderate Democrat asking why the leaders of my party are abandoning us…

It took the base of the Republican Party six years to begin to see that the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress weren’t really interested in working for their interests.

On the other hand, it has taken less than six months for the base of the Democratic Party to see that the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress are going to throw away once-in-a-generation opportunities to bring real change on behalf of all Americans.

Our fault? Obviously you don’t read FDL, or you’d know of all of the hard work Jane, EW, Scarecrow and so many others have done on healthcare.

Thank you Michael, Jason. It was an interesting read here.
Keep the faith one and all.

Thanks.

I really appreciate your having me.

Check out this http://www.truespinconference.com

Jason

Don’t see it the same way. (re condescension). Maybe you’re reading a bit too much into his comments.

I think he has acknowledged that people have good reason not to be interested in supporting or helping Obama, and his suggestion of shifting focus to more direct local action makes sense.

My view is that what people do vis-a-vis action-for-change has to be in spite of Obama, not because of him. You work for the change because it is in your own interest (as a progressive) not because it helps or hurts Obama. He probably doesn’t deserve progressive support – but policies that align with progressive interests do.

If you ignore the part about supporting Obama and the Democrats, do you disagree with the book’s premise of the importance of bottom-up pressure for change?

Mauimom. Drop me a line I’ll give you my address. And come visit me in SF I’ll change out of my pajama bottoms to take you on a tour of the city.
spockosemail At Gmail.com

Wow, what a downer of a statement. Inspires me to vote third party, that’s for sure.

Bit of a slow typist here… didn’t realize it was over!

Thanks for engaging Jason. I like your ideas, but you can see the challenge that awaits in motivating people to support Obama for change. Might help if he (Obama) started with some of the heavy lifting himself, i.e. show some political backbone in support of his allies, let alone his own policy promises.

In the meantime, I’d change the title to:

“50 ways you can help change America – with or without Obama”!

The premise of the book is good, obviously. But the best way to help people now and for generations to come is to effect change so that actors in the financial services industry will be better regulated and so that private insurers will contribute to health care rather than profit from sickness and death, just for two examples.

If you wanted to write a book that says “Hey, it doesn’t matter whether or not President Obama got elected because the most important thing of all is to help out in your community,” which is what you appear to have written, then call it that.

Btw, the mantra that volunteerism is the answer to this country’s many problems has already been taken by the Republicans.

Obama has demonstrated he has no leadership qualities. He has so far turned out to be lots of talk and no walk.

We don’t have to make him do anythning. He was voted in to do a whole host of things he promised. He’s not doing it.

There are now scores of examples of how Obama has walked back his commitment to change.

He surrounds himself with the same advisers and beltway insiders who were what needed to be changed.

People were very hopeful that he would at the very least invite some progressive voice to the team of rivals. They were not.

Obama needs to change. Not us.

And this is more blame the victim.

FDLers have been fighting for progressive issues for years. We’re the solution, not the problem. Preach to the beltway boys.

As yesterday, we seem to be on the same page… see my 134 for my title suggestion!

Trying to sell rubbish is not going to play with FDL. We weren’t born yesterday. How old are these authors?

Great alternate title! ;-)

I understand the point of the book, and it is fine.

But the authors need to understand that the first best thing that citizens can do is hold their leaders accountable.

We have to hold Obama and Reid and the rest accountable. Once we’ve done that and while we continue holding them accountable, we can work to remake America step-by-step.

So far, the cart still has to lead the horses unfortunately.

I don’t think many people would disagree that both tracks are necessary: a continual focus on accountability from our leaders and an intense commitment to the long-term build of progressive grassroots power.

I would see them as needing to be concurrent, not serial efforts.

I don’t think the answer lies in reaching across to righties. It’s more along the lines of empowering the disenfranchized. Getting more people to pay attention and turn away from the entertainment culture.

This. (Missed the comment when it was posted)

Oh, and thanks to Toby for hosting. Bit of a rough ride from the crowd, but you did a great job!