The Centennial

March 2, 2017 7:42 AM

Who is trying to topple the tsar in 2017? There are a lot of non-profits and activists who are protesting, and a lot of it is great, but standardized in form. Are there any current groups, people, or movements that are doing something different? Seriously asking, not interested in chatfilter on the merits and theories, looking for where to look.
posted by history is a weapon to Law & Government (2 answers total)

I'd say grassroots, nation-wide web-based unifying efforts like re:act letter and flippable are different tactics and tools that allow frustrated people to work together, without needing to meet and agree on actions and directions forward, by giving people focused, timely options.

Brand New Congress has a bold vision to bring a huge wave of progressives, recruiting and running more than 400 outstanding candidates in a single, unified, national campaign for Congress in 2018. Similarly, there's someone who is raising funds at the national level, to be distributed evenly to all Democratic candidates at every level, though I'm completely blanking on the name and website of this particular effort.

These all seem somewhat novel spins on standard practices. I think making something truly new is pretty hard at this point. Everything will be a new way to do the same things, given the long history of efforts to create change in politics.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Indivisible groups seem to be doing something effective and novel for progressives. Tthey are putting significant, focussed pressure on senators and representatives to listen to and act on their local constituents about Trump policies. It's a tactic adapted from the Tea Party, described well in the guide.

Many of these groups got attention last week when Congress folks were holding local town hall meetings. Or rather, avoiding and cancelling town halls so as to not have to talk to them.
posted by Nelson at 10:50 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]