Recent media stories abound on the conservative advocacy and training group FreedomWorks--promoted by Glenn Beck--and the three bazillionaires behind the Tea Party movement, including Rupert Murdoch of Fox News and brothers David and Charles Koch.
What's particularly newsworthy are the massive resources FreedomWorks and other conservative groups are pouring into skill-based political trainings for conservative activists and candidates in this fall's key states and races.
Fifty Tea Party leaders have flown in from across the country...to learn how to take over the country, voter by voter.... This is a three day "boot camp" at FreedomWorks... - The New York Times, 8/25/10
Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. - The New Yorker, 8/30/10
Mr. Steinhauser [Chief FreedomWorks Trainer] has traveled 42 states to train local groups.... -The New York Times, 8/25/2010
The other major sponsor of the Tea Party movement is Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, which...received $12 million of its own from Koch family foundations. The New York Times, 8/28/10
The conservative movement is significantly upping its investment in building the skills of activists and candidates. This is a CLARION CALL to the progressive movement to MATCH the other side's commitment to building leaders for today and tomorrow!
We know that matching the right's resources is no small task. Wellstone Action's conservative counterpart-The Leadership Institute-has a whopping $10 million annual budget compared to our modest $2.5 million.
And far beyond the upcoming elections, our larger long-term task is to move a progressive agenda in our country over the next several years. For this election we should be fighting like hell for the values, the people, and the policies we believe in. For beyond election day, we must take stock of our capacity to make change happen, and pour far greater resources into equipping and igniting progressive activists to organize people, communicate our message, run effective issue and electoral campaigns, create and advance progressive public policy, and build our movement for the long-haul. We must continue to recruit and train OUR OWN CANDIDATES to run for Congress and other offices and win in 2012.
We can truly take on the conservative movement when we finally MATCH THE RIGHT'S COMMITMENT to training and leadership development and provide greater support for our own training organizations such as Wellstone Action, Center for Progressive Leadership, and Progressive Majority, to name a few.
Wellstone Action has trained over 40,000 activists, organizers, and public leaders since our founding in 2003. Yet so much remains to be done. We stand ready to expand this work on far greater and more impactful scale across the country. We just need the resources to make it happen.
Photo by Pablo Manriquez on flickr
COMMENTS
OUR OWN CANDIDATES
I observed, watched and examined the so-called Tea Party candidates, I came to the conclusion that they can be or they are: immature, childish, loud, goofy, deceitful, harmful and very desperate human beings. We need to and we must select our own candidates.
That's right for this election, we must fight like hell for the values, the people, and the policies we believe in. For beyond election day, we must take stock of our capacity to make change happen, and pour far greater resources into equipping and igniting progressive activists to organize people, communicate our message, run effective issue and electoral campaigns, create and advance progressive public policy, and build our movement for the long-haul.
God bless Wellstone Action!
My imagination
One of my favorite Paul Wellstone quotes: " Politics is what we create by what we do, what we hope for and what we dare to imagine".
I imagine sustainable growth, wealth and prosperity for all of us. I imagine the wealthiest open their hearts and their wallets to willingly pay their fair share of taxes. I imagine adequate resources get pumped into the right pipeline. More importantly, elect best quality candidates into public office to represent you and me.
Amen!
Really?
Wow, you all have no idea what we are about do you? So sorry to hear that. Hey I have a great idea, you all should go to one of the Countries that allow your Communistic ideals and see what it is about. Then when you come RUNNING back to the USA! You will have changed your mind. I did. I was with you all. I was getting a little to uncomfertable with your mind frames and so off I went to another Country and that was when I learned more about this in REALITY! I came running back to the USA I have been a Conservative ever since. I hate to break it to you...but...YOU WILL NEVER OUT DO US!! Money is not a thing, it is the amount of people that have the same belifes as you do. And millions are seeing the truth with Obama in office right now. My friends and I went out ON OUR OWN and decited to find any liberal we could. We talked with them and explained who and what we are, we are up to changing the minds of Liberals, Black, white, hispanic and Gay...we have changed the minds of over 300 people and this is in a week. So try all you like. We OUT NUMBER YOU!!
how to get involve
I presently live in Miami Beach and would like to help build the progessive movement but unable to found any organizations to help me get started. Please send any information that would be helpful. Thank
Action Items
J applaud Wellstone Action's Progressive support for organized labor, immigration and refugee rights, lesbian rights and its opposition to billionaire right-wing funders.
However, there are other equally important issues worthy of Progressive support I don't see mentioned on the blog. They are:
Tax-based, single-payer, universal health insurance.
Publicly-funded election campaigns.
Ending the US's "unwavering" economic, military and political support for apartheid Israel.
Ending the US's unjustified and unsustainable invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Where does Wellstone Action! management stand on these matters?
POST NEW COMMENT