Turning the Inside Out: The Polis-Pingree Letter and Other Effective Partnerships Between the Hill and the Netroots
In late January 2010, almost everyone thought health care reform and the public option was dead. Then Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) released a letter calling on the Senate to pass the public option through reconciliation—with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) doing the same in the same in the Senate. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and CREDO Mobile organized tens of thousands of activists on the outside while Polis, Pingree and Bennet worked the phones on the inside—leading to massive movement in the House and Senate for the public option, bringing it "back from the dead." Find out how this inside-outside strategy worked and how it can be replicated in the future. Also, hear about the new "P Street Project"—the progressive alternative to K Street.
Charlie grew up in California. In 1995, he walked into a campaign office in Santa Monica and found out he could make a living out of trying to change the world. It was hard work and long hours, but incredibly rewarding. Charlie was immediately hooked. Since then, he’s worked on direct democracy campaigns in 21 states. He’s worked for a California Assemblymember, ran campaigns for SEIU and AFL-CIO in Oregon, and was the volunteer leader of Miami’s DFA group for 3 years before joining the team at headquarters in Burlington in 2006. Charlie loves his job and his door is always open.
Adam Green is co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (BoldProgressives.org), a 400,000-member grassroots online organization that helps elect bold progressive members of Congress and advocate on progressive policy issues.
For four years, he worked as Director of Strategic Campaigns and Civic Communications Director for MoveOn.org. He also blogs on sites such as HuffingtonPost.com, DailyKos.com, and OpenLeft.com -- where he has written repeatedly about good online organizing having a "theory of change."
Previously, Adam served as the Democratic National Committee’s press secretary in Oregon for the 2004 presidential campaign and communications director for the New Jersey Democratic Party in 2003 and 2004. Adam is a graduate of GWU’s political communication program -- where he now teaches a course on Internet & Politics -- and received his law degree from the University of Virginia.
Stephanie Taylor is co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a 750,000-member grassroots organization dedicated to electing bold progressives to Congress and advocating for progressive policy.
Stephanie has been organizing in the field and online for over a decade. For a number of years, she was a labor organizer in the Midwest and Appalachia for SEIU District 1199, a health-care and social service workers’ union, and later worked in online organizing at the AFL-CIO, Democratic National Committee, MoveOn.org, and Lawrence Lessig's Change Congress.
