Has DU ever considered doing an AMA with our reps?

[CloudsInMyCoffee]

I think that would be really neat to do and a great way to really get to know some of the up and coming people within the party.

For those of you who don't know, AMA stands for "Ask Me Anything" and was made famous by Reddit. Bernie did one, Obama did one and there are others.

This is Obama's AMA https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/?st=j7bg6whw&sh=c6655d69

Just an idea.

[clu]

1. solidarity between progressive and mainstream factions would be a requirement here

enough to warrant an outline and talking points for anyone involved.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. I don't know

Aren't the Democratic members of the House and Senate pretty accessible right now? I've been at two Booker events since January. Our reps here are pretty active in supporting our Gubernatorial, Assembly and Senate candidates through November. I don't know that they would have the time.

[clu]

3. should they make the time

as a form of voter outreach? I don't know if it could be practical, possible, or executed in a manner that would result in it being a good idea.

edit: if this was accomplished, it could accurately be described as an organic example of internet usage for political outreach - truenews not fakenews

[CloudsInMyCoffee]

4. It's something to examine for sure

I know quite a few have done internet townhalls and considering DU's size and reach, some may even jump at the opportunity.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. They already do it live

On Facebook. And - they tend to take questions from constituents only.

That's very important for those of us who live in red dots in blue states. Our state is small enough and boots on the ground activism is great enough that we have access to Leonard Lance AND our most likely 2018 Candidate.

See my answer below. Peter Jacob himself was the target of swastikas on his house last year, and Lance accused him of being a terrorist based on the color of his skin.

Now let's say some racist has access to Peter and wants to talk nonsense about coal jobs?

1. Peter is anti pipeline / pro environment
2. no coal miners live in our distric
3. his working class/working poor looks very different. It's not white males who have lost union jobs - its minority women who work in service jobs.

We have all of these members of the House for a reason - to represent the people in your district and answer to them . . . first.

That's why we've been so effective at putting our boot on Leonard Lance's neck - we aren't on the keyboard all the time.

You should demand more town halls from your Congressman/woman, go to their office every week for a weekly protest (we do this every Wednesday), set up calling and faxing 'trees' so they are just bombarded with outrage . . . .

You need them to be afraid of you. DU- won't 'strike fear' in them. Face to Face and Phone calls do.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Not really

I could see this working in California or Texas - but NJ?

Our Congressional Candidate can drive the width of our district (gerrymandered so 'crazy') in under 1/2 an hour.

It makes more sense to do what he's doing the next few weeks - meet in greets in high points, small town halls, small meetings, etc. etc.

Look at the NJ Map - it's not hard to reach the constituents. Also - Corey Booker does really great live q and a's on Facebook.

My greatest fear would be say - Peter Jacob in 2018 - gets slammed with a lot of questions of about coal miners.

His working poor in our district are not coal miners - they are poor black and Hispanic women - and their needs from their Congressman are vastly different (layers of racism in Horse Country NJ, safety of their children based on the color of their skin, etc. etc.)

I would resent having a question that mattered go unanswered.

[MineralMan]

6. Too few people on DU from any individual Congressional District

to make it worthwhile for those folks. They have better ways to connect with people in their district. The same, really, is true for Senators. They'd be spending most of their time here answering questions from people who aren't their constituents and defending themselves from attacks, I'm afraid.