A word about netroots infrastructure

I want to take a moment to thank all the friends and supporters of this organization who have purchased a ticket to our exciting Spring Fundraising Gala, now just eight days away, and ask those of you who have not to consider doing so now.

Strengthening the progressive movement, building a better Democratic Party, and advancing the common good is no small challenge. It is a daunting task - a task that will be made much easier if we invest in the infrastructure we need to catch up with the right wing. For forty years, conservatives have spent billions of dollars building top notch think tanks, a noise machine, a leadership pipeline, and voter mobilization networks to promote their ideas and win elections.

Their stunning success is evident today. Just look at the occupation of Iraq, and ask yourself...how is it that we have managed to spend such a colossal amount of money and resources there?

How is it that the Bush administration and its allies have been able to pressure a Democratic majority into writing checks to sustain this disastrous quagmire that has claimed the lives of over four thousand brave Americans?

Why is it that we can't invest even a little money in pursuing the development of renewable energy sources, or making our schools better, or working on any number of truly important priorities?

The answer is that the conservatives have laid the groundwork that supports their candidates, their ideas, and their policy directions...and we have not.

We have our interest groups, but they are narrowly focused on disparate issues, and only infrequently collaborating or looking at the big picture.

We could be addressing the climate crisis, and poverty, and terrorism, and countless other challenges, if we restored our common wealth and began using it wisely. But we can't truly do that until we help elected leaders, policymakers, the traditional media, and fellow Americans realize what the common wealth is and why it's important. We've forgotten because the right wing has reframed the discussion and focused it on taxes.

Instead of a conversation about the benefits of us collectively pooling our resources, we're always having a conversation about how much we individually pay and whether we are getting our money's worth.

If we want to change the conversation, an investment will be needed.

We're not going to be able to make much progress until we have ideas that resonate and a way to communicate those ideas to as many people as possible. And idea development requires infrastructure, or more specifically, idea factories like the Northwest Progressive Institute: year round operations that are always planning long term and working to build a progressive future.

As Dave Johnson of the Commonweal Institute has explained:

Progressive candidates, on the other hand, are generally on their own, starting from scratch for each election. Their general campaign begins in the late summer or fall, they have to decide what "issues" to run on, they have to develop a message from scratch, by themselves, and then they have to reach their voters from scratch. And they have to do all of this on their own in just a few months. No wonder conservatives, even with their awful "you're on your own" philosophy, have managed to do so well and gain so much traction.

This is why building up a national progressive advocacy infrastructure would leverage all of those campaign donations and help us build a sustainable progressive majority. A few dollars to progressive advocacy organizations on any given TODAY builds long-term support for every progressive candidate on any given TOMORROW. It provides leverage -- lowering the need for massive election-cycle funding.

The demise of Rockridge Institute demonstrates that the Democratic Party donor base hasn't yet gotten that message. Instead, masses of money have to be raised for candidates at the very last minute -- for example a million dollars in one minute, the day before the big Pennsylvania primary. And almost all of that money will just literally go up in the air to pay for TV ads that leave nothing behind to show for the money. They don't build the brand, they don't tell people about the benefits of progressive ideas, they don't help other candidates.

In particular, netroots infrastructure is important, because we can accomplish a lot even though we don't have the enormous financial resources that the right wing's institutions have. In other words, a little goes a long way.

We can't grow and become more effective without your help. We need to be able to pay the bills, develop new tools to help us reach more people, conduct research, and compensate our hardest working staff for their efforts.

As much as we'd like to work for free, we can't feed ourselves and pay the mortgage with just kind words of encouragement.

As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Help us ensure the Northwest Progressive Institute's future is bright. Join us for our spring fundraising gala a week from tomorrow. Learn about what we're doing, hear from some truly terrific speakers, and enjoy a delicious buffet with live jazz music. Tickets may be purchased online to your left on the sidebar for $60.

We are also offering two important discounts - a household ticket gets an entire family in for $90, and students or low income families are welcome for $20 (please contact us to receive this discount).

Thanks again for your support from all of us at NPI.