As we look to the convention and beyond, I got to thinking the Political Scientist (UM - Dearborn) I am that in many ways we are lacking the tools we need to really take our work to the next step. When I look at the policy of Secretary Clinton, I am honestly most reminded of Governor Romney, and that brings up that were we need to target next is congress, since if the Democratic Caucus, is filled with Sanderites rather than Neo-Liberals we can pass our agenda even if Clinton is at the helm. To do this we need to arm ourselves with new tools, either by creating new ones or taking advantage of old standbys.

So back before the Michigan primary (Hail to the Victors), I did a bit of canvassing, and between rather excited Arab-Americans around Dearborn and some minor stomach issues, I realized how wasteful it was to use paper and then have to do data entry afterwords, not to mention with wonderful temperatures of Michigan in late winter my hands got rather cold working with it. We need to develop an app that allows us to canvass for our current candidate of choice without needing printouts or even a local office to stop by at. This would make it easier to hit “less” important areas, removing the middleman of the data entry tech, and save a bit of paper which fits with our views as well.

Next on that same note maybe even part of the same app, we need to look into developing a stand alone phone banker app. Bernie Dialer and Vox Dialer did some work but required the user to have both a computer and a phone. We need to take this a step higher by letting people do the work directly from their smart phone without needing another system. Much like the canvasing app it would also help with data entry.

To make these ideas work we need to develop another tool, and that is our own progressive version of the “VAN” voter database system. From the mess back in December to our tin foil hat theories about purges now (valid or not). We see the need for a system to work with the above suggested apps that is open (as in developed), and secure (for privacy of the data in the system) to help in coordinating where and who to campaign as we try to progress the nation forward. Part of that coordinating around a central system, would help avoid the “repeat contacts” that we often heard about while blitzing given states. I have a good personal example, as I got in from the above mentioned canvasing I got a call from a supporter to ask how much I supported Bernie, and while I joked with them a bit and told them I just got in from going door to door for Sanders, it seemed like a waste of time for me a fully in “it” supporter to get called, so people who are using the app should be taken off the call and canvass lists, while they get their updates/reminders via some sort of internal bulletin board system.

So that is using new tools to aid in old jobs, next we look at how to deal with one of the old electioneering tools, the Gerrymander. My beloved state of Michigan in 2000 and later in 2010 was gerrymandered silly to the point where Dems get 60% of the raw votes for our state legislature but in the Rs have a majority over all and a super majority in one of the chambers. So often I have heard from the MDP that we just need to get back into power and we'll fix it our way, like some washed up boxer telling people he still has it. Now lucky for us Michigan is a state where the voters can push ballot measures and we need to get work doing this outside the normal party process so that we can also attract fairness interested people on the other side as well. Since not every gerrymandered state has the ability to push reform via the ballot, we must also consider finding anti-corruption Rs to run in R gerrymandered districts, and support them in primary fights vs more sold out Rs.

Next we get to a lynch pin in the whole thing, funding. Dialer/canvassing apps don't write themselves, database maintenance and security is a full time job (as our intra-party foe learned the hard way). While open source methods would lower the over all costs, we'll still need to raise some level of funding. Well Senator Sanders has shown us that when we toss in $27 a pop we can go toe to toe with a person who has all the honest and dishonest advantages our systems allows (and likely doesn't as well). So to solve the funding issue I suggest building a “Patreon” style platform where people can put in a bit a month to support a “progressive support platform”. In addition to funding operations it could be expanded to support progressive candidates directly.

The funding system could also help in supplying supporters with one of the most loved aspects of a political campaign, and that is the swag. Be it pins, bumper stickers or, yard signs there are people myself included who like to collect the relics of our past battles and keep them as reminders. With a funding system in place we could work together with local union production shops to get items sent directly to supporters without needing a ton of field offices.

TLDR – Bullet Points

- Calling and Canvasing app tied to a database.

- Gerrymander reform ballot pushes in states that have it, and finding anti-corruption Rs in thous without.

- A crowd funding system to support the above tools.

It's time for us to pick up the torch passed to us by the reformers of the past, from King, to TR, to the founders themselves we need to progress forward to create a “More Perfect Union”.

Thank you for reading

-Gabe