Effecting Change: Forget the (R) Model

Some interesting observations from a fellow who crawled into the belly of the beast.

...While participating in Democratic campaigns, Campus Progress and the activists that work with it are building a force independent of partisan efforts—but not irrelevant to it. They understand that the role of activists is to push politicians towards an independently defined agenda rather than serving as cannon fodder

Hence, a common concern of many activists was how to avoid being “co-opted” by the Democratic establishment—even if that establishment is headed by the most liberal candidate in American history. Similarly, a comment during the civil rights panel about how any movement needs a “militant resistance” was met not with nervous glances but agreement to what all perceived to be an obvious point

And in contrast, we have the (R) model:

...the majority of young CPAC attendees believed the purpose of political action was wearing a suit and preparing for a career. It is the difference between activists and politicos. Many Beltway conservatives are not activists and despise those who engage in protests or think of political alternatives beyond voting for Team Red. A mainstream conservative organization awarding young activists for direct action is simply unconceivable. Conservative organizations systematically funnel them into the dead end of Republican business as usual. Culture is largely ignored.

The result is a youth “movement” that is actually less committed and effective than the older conservative grassroots. Campus Progress is building activists and the campus Right is building politicians and politicos.

Well.

Maybe some actual Conservative activists should trash Obey's offices, eh? But not until they've called the Stevens Point Daily Rag-and-Rumorer (or whatever it's called) to get pix.