I thought maybe I could get most everyone here upset with me

[Tom Rinaldo]

42. Just some thoughts

If someone hires me full time to a progressive think tank maybe in a year or two I could come closer to a plan

There are other types of associations that perhaps can grow to fill some of the void left by shrinking Unions. Consumer Unions, Guilds, Citizen lobbies, Student organizations, etc. Right now we mostly think of them as outside the direct realm of politics, with some partial exceptions such as AARP. If we can grow them plus bring more of a overarching social consciousness to them so that people joined them expecting those organizations to be an ongoing part of political dialogs and coalitions that networked more with each other - that would provide more of a counter weighing counterpart to big money. That happens more in some European nations.

If people come to believe in the authenticity of an organization, even a political party, they are more likely to be financially supportive of it. That is one thing that the Sanders campaign excelled in. It built a strong base of regular small donors who were happy to pledge a repeating donation every month. Rightly or wrongly (no need to debate that here) they thought they knew what they were paying for and believed their money was being spent toward that end.

Public radio stations survive using that model. And they bring in a pretty broad base to support their activities. Branding has to be clear, the message needs to be clear, for that to work. People need to believe that they know what they can expect in return for their support. That message has not been as crisp for the Democratic Party in recent decades - with exceptions around some issues.

For now we might help build some strongly themed issue oriented PACS that by nature of what they advocate are likely to support the election of Democrats. These should be transparent, no hiding of who gives money to them. Addressing concerns raised by Climate Change would be a great example. Green Job promotion in general, can unite some more progressive minded businesses with wealthy liberal donors who are happy to be identified with that issue.

And we should be doing a lot of social research with younger voters, who tend toward being idealistic, as to what it will take to get them more engaged in politics, both with their time and their money. And find a way to harness more of that energy - which right now doesn't run through the Democratic Party by default. Social movements can be transformative, and they usually primarily run on the energy of the young.

I would love to see a high profile PAC that undertook public education on the theme of the merits of progressive taxation.