Program goes live at 8:15 pm EDT/5:15 pm PDT
It's difficult to stay optimistic as a liberal. Between being drowned out by right wing media, ignored by the mainstream Democratic Party and dodging hippie punches left and right, it's easy to sink into a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness.
But that's what all those opposing forces want you to believe.
Van Jones has been studying the various effectiveness of political parties, movements and campaigns, and he thinks it's time for liberals and progressives to come together to use the most successful strategies to make our voice not only heard, but listened to.
Now, these [various liberal groups] are massive constituencies and DC has nothing to say to any of them. We think that it is time to give them a vehicle, and a voice, to speak and to be heard in the organizations that are carrying the fight for them, to not just be left to fight alone. But now, most of the people in those categories are fighting and they’re fighting every day. But they’re fighting alone, and even the organizations that are fighting for them are fighting alone. We think that the simple act of creating a common banner for these groups and for these constituencies to begin to coalesce under could gel to change the conversation.
In addition to this roll out, house meetings are taking place all over the country, training people to use these techniques, social networking tools and strategies to gain momentum for a Rebuild the Dream summit in DC.
As much as I derided them, I cannot deny the effectiveness of the tea party to gain and hold the attention of elected officials. But here's the dirty secret that both the complacent Democrats and the self-important tea party caucus doesn't want the rest of us to know: we outnumber them. At their most effective, the tea party only gathered 150,000 people one single time for a rally in DC. Hell, Wisconsin STILL gets that many protesters at the capitol building months later. But we segregate ourselves into specialized groups and refuse to coordinate our efforts, thus diminishing our strength and effectiveness.
By rallying around the single banner that every American deserves the right to realize the American Dream, we can work together to show Washington DC that we are a force that can be reckoned with.
