elected officials

A conversation among those working in the youth movement today surrounded a list of resources for candidates who wanted to run for office. Local candidates of all stripes are stepping up to the plate for the upcoming 2012 election because they want to help change the world. But once you decide you want to make an impact and take those first steps declaring you're in it to win it .... where do you go from there?

Worry not! There are so many organizations out there working with state and local candidates. To make things easier - we here at Future Majority have made a handy list!

• The New Organizing Institute has recently announced its Candidate's Project - a great resources for state and local people who want pledge to be one of their 2012 people to run in 2012.
• Democracy for America Campaign Academy travels around the country teaching skills to activists to help them be more efficient and effective in helping candidates and causes. Don't listen to them when it comes to young voters and new media though... the one we had in Wichita had a guy who said they didn't matter.... :)
• Camp Wellstone - so named for the late Senator Paul Wellstone who inspired a generation of activists to make a difference. His legacy lives on in the lives touched by programs that help train staff and candidates across the country. I think I still have a green Wellstone training manual around somewhere.
• Progressive Majority - supporting candidates running for office who want to make a difference in progressive legislation. PM works to train staff and candidates and has tons of resources on their website to get you organized.
• The New Leaders Council - started in 2007 in San Francisco and has grown to be a powerhouse organization that works within local infrastructures to train young people who work in politics, policy, government, etc... further skills so they can move up the ladder. My favorite part is that they use local leaders to teach their classes, so it becomes a huge networking benefit for these fellows as well. Full disclosure the second I met Adam Borelli I knew the NLC was going to be a thing and pledge to do anything for him until the end of time.
• EMILY's List - stands for Early Money is Like Yeast ... because it raises the dough. They got started because there wasn't a lot of money out there for women running for office and as a result there weren't a lot of women IN office. So amazing strong women joined forces to help women raise money, get good solid staffs, and win. I think I've actually been to every single training except for the candidate training that EL offers. Their fundraising manual is a Bible for anyone working in politics or running for office.
• EMILY's List has a few state spin-offs like the California List, Annie's List (Texas), and Sally's List (Oklahoma) all of which work at the local level to help women running for office.
• Emerge is another good resource for young women who want some help getting elected. They boast over 500 women they've helped train and inspire to run for office. Go them!
• PoliCorps - is a project of The Bus Project that helps train 20-24 year olds to be genius political organizers. Their program is an intensive ten week political organizing and leadership development bootcamp.
• The White House Project - got started in effort to inspire a richly diverse group of women in to the leadership pipeline.
• The Women's Campaign Forum - works as a non-partisan resource for all women at all levels of government who would like to run for office. They run the She Should Run project that gets more women candidates involved and trained.
• For LGBT candidates you can check out the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute who runs a great training program for candidates.
• The Truman Project I heard does candidate trainings specifically for veterans but I couldn't find it on their website. What they do that is critical is help progressives message around national security policy.
• The New American Leaders Project - help prepare first- and second-generation immigrants for civic leadership. They recruit and train candidates and help bring a face and a voice to immigrant issues for sure.
• Leadership for Educational Equity - inspires Teach for America alumni - as well as others I presume - to seek leadership in politics, policy and advocacy as a critical lever for long-term change ensuring all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.
• The Front Line Leadership Academy - a project of Young People For and the Young Elected Officials Network that helps 20 talented young people from across the country every year. FLLA provides prospective candidates and campaign leaders the ability to learn from successful political campaign professionals.
• Running to Govern - This all partisan organization helps recruit and train people to not just run for office but how to govern as well. Hence the name...

I know there are probably tons that I'm forgetting - so please email us if you have a training program you would like to list here. FutureMajority (at) gmail (dot) com.

In an outstanding example of the use of online technology and social media, the Lawrence Journal World did a twitter-view with Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew about the way his office is using social media as a way to do better outreach.

Last week I emphasized the need for accessibility through technology for the Kansas State House and Senate, but the Douglas County Clerk was well on his way of advocating for greater outreach through social media as early as last year when he first began tweeting.

Now the, somewhat young, elected official is using the new world of technology in attempts to get more young people in Lawrence (home of the University of Kansas) to vote in the upcoming city elections.

"Recently, he and his staff members have started posting messages on Twitter reminding Douglas County voters that advance voting was open this week at the courthouse, 1100 Mass.

“Social media seems to be able to spread messages quickly across multiple domains,” Shew said.

His office also has been looking at ways to expand its communication reach, especially when his budget is limited.

“Governments have to start thinking outside the bricks and mortar of the courthouse to create contact points in the new information age,” he said."

I know of no previous twitter-views but I have to say this must be one of the first. Shew goes further to talk about his outreach through a full on interview back and forth between the LJWorld and Shew.

Most Notable:

"@dgcokselections: It is an additional tool for outreach, especially for mobilization of new generations of voters who communicate via social media.

@dgcokselections: It has been gradual as we test which venues are appropriate. Using Twitter to share info that is broadcast in more traditional methods.

@dgcokselections: We are really interested in developing a full scale approach by the 2010 elections when social media will have expanded even more.

@dgcokselections: This has been in conjunction with our expanded use of the Web site to get information out to the public like online sample ballots."

I applaud any elected official who is using new technologies to reach out to young people, indeed all constituents, in their district. It does us all a disservice when we can't connect with our elected members, but with further outreach on sites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook we all have a stronger connection to government. In the end it will grow civic engagement and hopefully civic pride.

Over the last four months I have been MIA from this site as I served as a Campaign Manager for a City Council candidate in Philadelphia, a task which sucked every last minute of my waking time (and some of my dream time too), but a task which ended last Tuesday when my candidate lost his bid to become the Democratic nominee for city council (my father ran, and lost, as well).

This was my first foray into candidate centered electoral politics, and it could well be my last. While I care deeply about getting good people elected to public office at all levels, there are things about working directly with a candidate that seem to leave a bad taste in the mouth of almost anyone willing to try it. At the very least I can say that I won’t work for a candidate that I don’t know exceptionally well, and trust completely. Given the amount of dedication and time you are asked for when you take on such a project; the financial, social, and familial sacrifices you are forced to make, I simply don’t think I’ll be going down that road again any time soon (unless Al Gore calls, then all bets are off).

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy myself, learn a ton, or meet lots and lots of amazing people and organizations, I most certainly did. But, more than anything, my little adventure into local politics reminded me of what I really want to be doing: building infrastructure for the future of our emerging progressive majority; working with/training/empowering young people to take control of their lives and their world; pushing issues and ideas that will make my city and our nation into a better, more friendly, place.

I’ll try to write some more about the last few months of my work in Philly, and the insane changes that seem to have started happening here during the election (including the emergence of my little brother’s local political blog—that I helped to build—into the center of online politics in the city and the Democratic nomination of a pretty amazing reformer for mayor), but for now I just wanted to say: “I’m baaaaack!”

Cross posted at MyDD

Last week, we had a conversation about the shape and speed of political change. In our conversation, Josh talked about the Long March, or, the pace at which our generation is expected to progress through the ranks of political institutions into places of power and prominence. In response to that, I thought I'd share some research I've done for the book I'm working on. (Yes, thanks to these good folks I am turning my blogging into a book. When we finish redesigning this site, there will even be a web page dedicated to it. More on that later.)

As part of my research, I just read Strauss and Howe's Millennials Rising, in which the authors lay out a timetable for just when our generation is expected to take over the reigns of government. I'd like to lay these down as markers, see where we are currently at, and make some suggestions about what Strauss and Howe are missing, and the complimentary roles of direct action and institutional change.

Here's what Strauss and Howe predict as the timetable for Millennials' Long March to power: