Obama’s most notable flaw has been his lack of getting the rank and file voter involved in the process of bringing his agenda to life. Well…

Leaked Powerpoint demonstrates DNC contempt for progressive voices against the mandate

OFA Call regarding CO SEN Primary; Plouffe Leads It

Highlights three statewide groups laying foundation for a bottom-up, democratic, progressive movement: the Virginia Organizing Project, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and Maine People’s Alliance.

This is the third of a series of “profiles in democratic local organizing” in which I hope to highlight possibilities for building a more authentically grassroots progressive movement. Please send your stories of democratic local organizing by progressives on national issues to michael.karpman [at] gmail.com.

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Commentary on Micah Sifry’s “How to Listen to Your Online Members: Debating the MoveOn Way” and James Vega’s discussion of the absence of a true progressive social movement in the health care debate.

Activists revive Bull Moose movement – formerly Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressive Party – to empower communities through civic education and reduce corporate influence.

Ahhh, the power of the Democrats! To all of you who said that Dems couldn’t get anything done, to all of you that said Congressional Democrats couldn’t find the President’s desk with a map, a flashlight, and guided tour from Desirée Rogers, to all of you that said this White House did not know how to play political hardball, I say: Behold!

Just look what has happened in the last fortnight (or so): the president actually put his health plan on paper, the Senate leadership and the White House decided that budget reconciliation wasn’t such a bad idea after all, Democrats in both houses of Congress came together on a sidecar strategy, leadership has started whipping votes like there’s no tomorrow, President Obama has taken his show on the road in campaign-style events to sell his reform plan, and he, the president himself, is having one-on-one meetings with Democratic members (yes, that’s Democratic, not Republican) of the House to arm twist and horse trade. And, the great grassroots organizing forces of the left—from OFA to SEIU, from DFA to HCAN, from MoveOn to what the serious folks call “the liberal blogosphere” (not the marginal blogs, of course [smile])—have been mobilized in an all-out, no-holds-barred, damn-near scorched earth effort to move every last member of the House off the dime and on board the health care highway.

Hell, the White House is giving away NASA bases, and the SEIU is threatening primary challenges to anyone that votes against the “Senate-plus” health care overhaul—even if that means running kamikaze, third-party candidates. All to counteract the horrible, obstructionist, downright evil efforts of notorious Public Enemy Number One. . .

CO Primary Caucus Night is Tuesday March 16th