At Take Back America: Do you feel the love? National & local synergies

from the Take Back America conference in Washington, DC...

After the election of 2004 disaster of 2004, it's not surprising that progressives are looking for evidence of victories. And there were some then, and since, that suggest directions for rebuilding the progressive movement in the United States. At the Take Back America conference, taking place June 1-3 in Washington, DC, organizers pointed to these victories as evidence of possibilities for change, along with polling results that show that Americans are looking for a new direction.

Among the most important victories -- two grassroot campaigns succeeded in getting increased minimum wage adopted by ballot initiatives in both Florida and Nevada. The organizers of those campaigns, ACORN organizer Tamecka Pierce and AFL-CIO organizer Danny Thompson were honored with Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership Awards at a packed Gala Award dinner this evening.

Other ACORN members from Florida were on their feet cheering Pierce's award. Pierce told the crowd that the purpose of the campaign was not only to win a raise for the lowest paid workers in Florida, but also get thousands of Florida voters who might otherwise sit out the election to the polls to vote for progressive candidates.

The interdependence between national and grassroots was very much in evidence. Another example was launched on the opening day of the conference -- Cities for Progress, a national network of local elected officials and community activists. Cities for Progress grew out of Cities for Peace, which helped get 200 city resolutions opposing the invasion of Iraq. The Institute for Policy Studies, the countries oldest progressive think tank, is behind both efforts.

Cities for Progress will focus on the costs of the Iraq War on the residents of cities across the US, the Wal-Marting of the economy, and the need for national health care policy. How much is the war costing your state, county or city? You can find out at in an analysis released by the National Priorities Project. The share coming from the taxpayers of Atlanta, for example, is $255.3 million, says the report. If that money had been spent for healthcare instead, 69,477 uninsured Atlantans could now be getting insurance. Or 4,312 public school teachers could have been hired.

These initiative are examples of the power of collaboration between national groups and grassroots groups, which are organizing, getting out voters, and winning important state and local races.

Too often, grassroots have been ignored by the national groups, or the two have split over funding competition and differences in priorities. Sometimes, race, class, and gender differences also play a role -- many grassroots group are led by women and often women of color. The national groups tend to be led by white men. One of the big questions for the progressive movement in coming years will be whether it can build on the strengths of both grassroots and national organizing in ways that respect both. If so, and if a clear and pro-active agenda can focus on issues that will make a difference in people's lives, the growing popular concern over the direction of the Bush administration can be translated into a powerful long-term progressive movement.