Comments on: Can Obama’s Organizing For Action (OFA) help save the planet? The jury is out. https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/ Sat, 25 May 2013 12:14:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: G. https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487068 Sat, 25 May 2013 12:14:57 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487068 Cool. I’d suggest bringing it up with your local OFA organizers, and let them know it’ll make meetings go faster for them. Five minutes to take a poll of the room, and ten minutes to write up the results & send ’em in after the meeting, total of 15 minutes, vs. 90 minutes of discussion. That’s an incentive for them to do it.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487067 Wed, 22 May 2013 02:58:54 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487067 I would like that. There was a show of hands on a couple of issues. We did not vote on the pipeline I think but I’m pretty sure it would have been unanimous, and strongly felt.

]]> By: G. https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487066 Wed, 22 May 2013 02:44:24 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487066 Excellent, splendid, and y’all did just the right thing.

Polite but persistent is a known route to successful outcomes.

Seems to me it’s not unreasonable to let OFA know: We, the local activists, will support President Obama and his positions and messages, in our communities. In exchange for doing that, we expect that our issues and concerns will at least be compiled into some kind of basic descriptive statistics sent up to the White House, to whoever is in charge of political organizing.

Then these topics can be handled very time-efficiently at the meetings, for example:

OFA organizer: “Who has a topic they want included in this week’s report to the White House?”

Greg: “I do. Keystone. We want the President to take a stand against it and refuse to sign off on it.”

OFA: “OK, let’s do the numbers. How many people here agree with Greg that the President should oppose Keystone and veto it?” (Hands go up, get counted.) How many people here disagree with Greg, and support the pipeline? (Hands go up, get counted.) How many people here don’t have a strong opinion about it? (Hands go up, get counted.) OK, so I see thirty against the pipeline and in favor of the President vetoing the pipeline, four in favor of the pipeline, and six with no strong opinion. I’ll put that in the weekly report, and your voices will be heard. Now let’s get to our planned topics….”

Then the OFA organizer would send in their regular report to whoever-it-is that they report to: “At tonight’s meeting, a working scientist brought up Keystone and said that President Obama should veto it. The poll of the room showed that 30 people oppose Keystone, 4 support Keystone, and 6 had no opinion….”

Would that work for you?

]]> By: Obama's OFA refuses to help on Keystone Pipeline https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487065 Fri, 17 May 2013 12:30:48 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487065 […] of those activists who had the wrong impression about OFA is the writer quoted below, who attended an OFA outreach meeting in Minnesota in order to move them to oppose the Keystone pipeline (again, my […]

]]> By: Climate Change Activism in Minneapolis, and Fracking https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487064 Thu, 16 May 2013 22:06:59 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487064 […] And now, the the other thing, pertaining to the OFA and Keystone XL, originally posted here: […]

]]> By: Jess https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487062 Thu, 16 May 2013 21:05:50 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487062 It’s 350.org, not 360! 🙂

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487063 Thu, 16 May 2013 21:04:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487063 In reply to Jess.

I know! My fingers always go right for the 360. They should have called themselves 360. We could handle the extra 10ppm and then they could be the organization that has it’s eyes out in all directions of the compass!

]]> By: OFAil: Obama Group Refuses To Push On Keystone | Elm River Free Press https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487061 Thu, 16 May 2013 17:43:54 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487061 […] Wednesday, OFA hosted more than 100 local “climate planning sessions.” Becky Bond, the head of CREDO, an online progressive group with some three million members, […]

]]> By: Jill Hix https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487060 Thu, 16 May 2013 15:44:08 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487060 Absolutely agree with the first point above…Midwesterners as a group are way too polite and won’t “force” an issue or point of view. I say this as a native of New Jersey, now living in western WI (22 yrs), formerly of St. Paul (11 yrs). I often get accused of being “harsh” when I speak my mind, even though I have facts & proof as a basis. At my age now, I don’t care what anyone says, but it drives me crazy. OFA continues to send emails wanting me to sign up….I don’t because they are not really open to doing anything but follow the status quo. I like Obama, I’m a very liberal Dem, women’s rights activist, etc, but if OFA wants support, they better start listening to their members and not just follow “the script”. Dems are doomed if “Midwestern nice” is the way of doing business. This is hardball, nice is out .

]]> By: Eli Rabett https://gregladen.com/blog/2013/05/15/can-obama-for-america-help-save-the-planet-the-jury-is-out/#comment-487059 Thu, 16 May 2013 14:40:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=16613#comment-487059 There is a saying that the Republicans fear their base and the Democrats despise theirs. It really is time to demand results, and to start putting up candidates in primaries even if that means loosing a few elections.

OFA is a pressure point because they need the spirited.

Now Eli does not do huffs, but Ms. Rabett has a policy that when someone gets difficult with her of sending in Eli with the admonition, Eli, you know how you are. Be that way.

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