The Independent View: Movement 2016 Support Local Organizing

I came across this article by Billy Wimsatt in the current Nation magazine.

First, let's talk money. In 2016, over $4 billion will be spent on TV ads that will do little to turn out a single new voter in any battleground State. If we shift just 1% of that money, $40 million, we could fully fund all of the most effective grassroots groups in key states, from the Ohio Student Association to the Florida Immigrant Coalition, that organize year-round and actually turn out voters.

As Steve Phillips argues in "Brown Is the New White", communities of color win elections if they are properly invested in. Studies show that face-to-face interaction substantially increases voter turnout. Ditto for millennials, the largest, most diverse, and most progressive generation. A voter wave among these groups in 2016 and 2018 would undo GOP gerrymandering and make the 2020s a progressive decade.

Clinton needs these voters, not just to cast their ballots, but to enthusiastically volunteer. Millennials voted overwhelmingly for Sanders. Without Obama on the ticket, will the Obama coalition show up? No one knows.

That's why even Clinton should advocate for supporting local grassroots groups. They expand the electorate, personally reaching millions of unlikely progressive voters. They help people register and vote. They drive progressive wins down-ballot. And they won't disappear in November. They'll be here in 2017 to hold folks accountable, a permanent political revolution.

Why don't we provide these groups with the resources they need? Most progressive donors have never heard of them. A new platform, Billy Wimsatt's Movement 2016, is now being launched to change that. The left needs a new center of gravity beyond Bernie, not just a charismatic leader, but a sustainable movement at the Local level. That movement exists. We even have the money to sustain it, if we stop wasting it on TV.