Why do we always just wait for our candidates to carry us?
If you haven't noticed there is a huge group of Republicans that spend many hours a day writing letters to editors or bypassing the news media and getting the word out straight to the public who do not read or post at DU or liberal message boards by going to the mixed boards and chat rooms.
And if you haven't noticed, every time Kerry pulls ahead the Republicans come up with so much garbage that it flattens the race again.
Part of that effort comes at the personal level from the LTE and message board, chat room writers.
Sure it's very likely that many of the Rs are paid by nonprofits set up by R operatives, but that doesn't change the fact that they help the right wing effort to overwhelm the nation with their ideas as they already have.
If you want to win you should be joining the liberal effort by writing LTEs, or to mixed message boards, chat rooms etc. with as much time as you can spare.
Generally, liberals have been found to have more real information and better reasoning than the right wing posters, but on many boards and chat rooms we are still overwhelmed.
I post at one of the largest board systems in the country. It was a great feeling to have the board change from a place where we were constantly called terrorists right after 9-11 to one where those that do stick out like the whack jobs that they are.
On a board that big it isn't one person's effort or even one groups, but every time we post our ideas and the facts that the right wing tries to cover up there it keeps freedom of speech alive, by giving other Americans the ability to say their piece without being overwhelmed with right wing talking points and plain old harassment.
Suggestions:
DU is a great place for information when it just happens as you all know.
Unfortunately, most of the articles linked to here will disappear form their original locations.
Get the info and store what you need. I used a series Word documents to store excerpts from news articles and the relevant URLs of the sources either mainstream or our great liberal media.
Now I use Google groups storage, and some free Internet storage from my isp to save the same type stuff while also making it available to others.
I can't catch everything and when stuck I do a google search or you can search here if you have the capability. Washington Post links often stay live (if they are not just an AP or Reuters article) and free as do those from the UK Guardian and lots of the liberal media.
On large message boards you might naturally pick up enough support.
On smaller ones it's helpful (I've found) to organize a bit. Use private messaging available there (or email addies) to appeal to other liberals to help boost your messages and promise to do the same to theirs (of course jumping right in and matching your words with actions to show them your good faith). Since the assigned right wingers often have 8 or more hours a day to post a little more effort is needed to keep from being overwhelmed.
Don't let the right wingers intimidate you and don't play by their rules. If they are using unfair tactics point them out.
Come back to DU to recuperate as needed.
And most of all, can the dissing of our own candidates in public.
If you disagree with them, fight for better ideas in the public forums.
Our candidates are elected. That means they must follow what Americans want.
If we don't fight and change the minds of Americans then we will never get a liberal agenda in government and if we just keep complaining about our people we will never get any power back at all.
http://news4u.alturl.com