Whether you care about tax justice, marriage equality, women’s health, our environment, or all of the above one thing is certain – we need more progressive champions fighting for us up at Smith Hill. So step away from your laptop, and join Ocean State Action PAC and our coalition partners at area phonebanks 5 nights a week! (Details below.)
Races are won and lost on the ground – so roll up your sleeves and pitch in! Sign up today!
Monday Nights:
Planned Parenthood Votes RI:
5-8PM 111 Point St Providence
Sign Up Here http://bit.ly/ppvotesri
Tuesday Nights:
Fight Back RI:
6-9PM 236 Hope St, Providence
RSVPs to Margret Margret@fightbackri.com
Clean Water Action:
5:30-8:30PM 741 Westminster St, Providence
Sign Up Here
Wednesday Nights
Action PAC
5-8PM 99 Bald Hill Rd, Cranston
RSVP to Kate Kate@oceanstateaction.org
Planned Parenthood Votes:
5-8PM 111 Point St Providence
Sign Up Here http://bit.ly/ppvotesri
Thursday Nights:
Action PAC
5-8PM 99 Bald Hill Rd, Cranston
RSVP to Kate Kate@oceanstateaction.org
Fight Back RI:
6-9PM 236 Hope St, Providence
RSVPs to Margret Margret@fightbackri.com
Clean Water Action:
5:30-8:30PM 741 Westminster St, Providence
Sign Up Here
Sunday Afternoon:
Clean Water Action:
12-4PM 741 Westminster St
Sign Up Here
We’ll provide the snacks, scripts and training! Just bring your dialing finger and your will to win!!
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I’m not buying it. First, Democrats are extremely well-equipped, monetarily, to fend off challengers (for instance, Speaker Fox alone has a quarter of a million dollars, search the filings here). Second, I’d be more inclined to believe that the RI GOP was a strong and credible organization if they actually came off that way. But go to their website and tool around for a bit. I found these problems with it:
Obviously, the Democrats have a much better website (they also have more money to spend on it). And obviously, you can have a crappy website and still be a really great organization. But in the 21st Century, we should note that websites are often the first impression you make on people. And RIGOP.org is not an inspiring impression, though its big candidates (Brendan Doherty & Barry Hinckley) have much stronger websites.
My main issue is with any political organization (Republican, Tea Party, Democrat, Progressive, Green, Moderate, etc.) looking to undo the establishment is that “less is more” does not seem to be an actual functioning approach. There’s just so many things you get from more candidates:
Those are benefits I see. Certainly, I’m no heroic field director or party organizer. I think for the Republicans to announce that they’re fielding almost half of the candidates they had in the last election makes it look like they’re contracting, rather then expanding. Which makes them look far weaker then might actually be the case. And if the emphasis is going to be on quality rather than quantity, you have to be of better quality then your opponents.
The other issue here is that perhaps the Republicans have set their sights too low. Forcing a floor debate on major bills isn’t exactly the rallying cry that inspired Tea Party activists last election cycle (“We Want Our Country Back!”). If someone promised me they were going to lose a lot while talking a lot, I’d laugh in their face. The promise needs to be big: our members are going to have control of the state. That should be the promise of any party or organized faction in the state. Republicans aren’t even promising to take one chamber of the General Assembly.
Because but no matter your goal, you’re probably not going to live up to it (unless you’re the ruling Democratic Party). And if you’re going to go down, go down kicking and screaming, because whimpering doesn’t look strong.
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