    
Dan Kaslow
Citizen
Username: Dank3265
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 9:27 am: |     |
As the former Maplewood-South Orange Kerry Coordinator, I received numerous emails, after the election, from people expressing a desire to stay politically active and involved. From these messages and other conversations I've had, my sense is that many people feel they really have no way to channel their political interests. They have no desire to join their local democratic clubs and find the large progressive organizations, while valuable in mobilizing large groups for major efforts, don't provide a local connection to the political process.
I share these sentiments and wholeheartedly agree that there is a need to address these concerns and fill this void. As a result, I, along with colleagues involved as campaign coordinators in other towns, have spent the last two weeks grappling with this issue. I'd like to share my preliminary thoughts, which I present merely as a starting point for discussion. If the idea of some type of organization appeals to you -- even if your idea is very different than mine -- I hope you'll get back to me with your input and suggestions.
1. The group we create would be a unique, independent, local organization, with a formal mission (so we're not overly ambitious at the start) and specific, achievable goals (so we'll be able to have some sense of accomplishment).
2. A primary focus would be to exert, through grassroots efforts, a positive, constructive influence on local, state and national political issues, candidates and campaigns.
3. This would be accomplished through members' direct involvement in a wide range of activities. Since this would be an organization created for its members, I would hope that, ideally, there would enough different options so that every member could participate in a way that met their interests, but not so many ideas that we spread ourselves too thin. A starting list might be:
„h Political campaign education and training (grassroots skills, election law, etc)
„h Analysis of political issues and candidates (fact sheets, legislation, etc).
„h Participation in elections principally within New Jersey
„h Interaction with selected other organizations (e.g. MoveOn, Democrats for America) and elected officials and candidates at all levels.
4. Membership would be open to any registered voter who is willing to contribute to the operations of the organization and who has an interest in being politically active, informed and knowledgeable.
5. The group would be comprised of members from the Maplewood/South Orange area (including neighboring communities, Millburn, Springfield, Livingston, West Orange).
6. Meetings would be monthly, with a fixed time schedule and agenda
7. Organization structure would be minimal
8. A very modest membership contribution would be asked for
I would like to tentatively set Tuesday, December 15, 7.30pm as the date for the first meeting, which we could hold at my home in Maplewood (or if the response warrants, we could find a larger space).
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED or WOULD LIKE TO BE KEPT INFORMED:
Please send me an email with your thoughts on this group and whether you can make the start-up meeting, together with your name, address and phone number. Feel free to forward this note to anyone you who you think might be interested.
I look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible.
Dan Kaslow
dakaslow@comcast.net
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