A Democratic delegate's campaign pitch - citizenschallenge (done)

General Discussion
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Speaking of Nihilism, here’s my brand. It’s my “campaign” pitch for delegate to Colorado’s Democratic Convention.
Well and the whole point of going is the pamphleteering and peddling these thoughts :wink:
So’s I figure why not share it among my pals, see what feedback this one gets. :slight_smile:

see below
______________________________________________ The rest isn't finished yet. My starting point will be that list of 14 observation of our dysfunctional public dialogue. Rewritten and incorporating a few notes I have jotted down. My next project if I don't allow myself to get too diverted. Been lucky, have been between projects, with some in the offing so I been able to relax and do my thing. My gal's been out of town, so its lonely but frees up a lot more time.
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This seems like notes to yourself, not a pamphlet. Things like “there’s more" and “I’ve been struggling" will jump out at people reading and possibly turn them off. Is there anyone around who can help you with framing, maybe look for a workshop. What’s the message, the theme? Sure, you want a dialogue and critical thinking, but what does that mean? File those terms under methods, instead of bullet pointing them.
Main points would be more like; science based, support youth voice (and votes), Earth-centrist, instead of listing failures list what could be accomplished.
The folksy stuff is okay I guess, but I would pare it down a bit and leave it in a paragraph at the bottom somewhere, for the people who looked at your main points and decided they are already with you.
Good luck

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I guess I’d want to know who is your audience for this? Like is this a pamphlet you’re going to pass out going door to door? Something to present to the existing delegates? Etc.

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It sounds like you have the skills to lead and direct the convention. You know what the problems are and where the changes are needed. You may say you’re an amateur, but what you point to says you are not. Point being. The convention wants to plant seeds in the minds of the delegates that will follow those ideas. Your letter doesn’t fit the bill. The mold is the retired school teacher or government worker who wants a touch of the political life. Some indorsements from well-known and liked politicians would help.
The DNC needs to make changes. I am here to help make the changes and build the grass roots campaign that will get your goals on the ballot.
Thank you and please help send me to the state Democratic Convention. P.M.

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I guess I'd want to know who is your audience for this? Like is this a pamphlet you're going to pass out going door to door? Something to present to the existing delegates? Etc.
It'll be a room full of caucus delegates at our county Democratic Convention this Saturday. Many of us casually know each other, or at least recognize one another. In the past I've pretty much silently handed out my fliers. This time I'm telling myself I need to step up and button-hole people and try to discuss this them about what I'm trying to do, see what happens. Still struggling, er working on those specific points. Plus how to respond to the question, so what do you want to accomplish. But, its one of those thinkings the closer I get, the more I toss in my path.
This seems like notes to yourself, not a pamphlet. Things like “there’s more" and “I’ve been struggling" will jump out at people reading and possibly turn them off. Is there anyone around who can help you with framing, maybe look for a workshop. What’s the message, the theme? Sure, you want a dialogue and critical thinking, but what does that mean? File those terms under methods, instead of bullet pointing them. Main points would be more like; science based, support youth voice (and votes), Earth-centrist, instead of listing failures list what could be accomplished. The folksy stuff is okay I guess, but I would pare it down a bit and leave it in a paragraph at the bottom somewhere, for the people who looked at your main points and decided they are already with you. Good luck
Okay thank you Lausten. Too folky, yeah I see that - it's what happens when one's stranded within their own bubble. Exactly, why I try so hard to get serious feedback. re. your question - I've gone to various writing classes around here and a couple clubs, but you know I'm talking about issues that most just as soon not think about: we can't do anything about the world and its going to hell and we're not going to stop it, lets just keep our heads down, get through our day to days, enjoy whatever joys we've enjoyed, we'll deal with the disasters when they happen, leave me to today. Which I can totally agree with, ... But I can't turn my back, I've spent my entire life learning about this world, our Earth, her story, her people, and our story, the wonders and the repetition of the same old mistakes and over-reaches, over and over and over. There was a short moment in the 60s,70s some really believed that our higher morals and sense of Enlightened-Self-Interest and better understand would help us avoid the same old destructions. But alas, Reaguns and that Greed is Good and dirty tricks and all's fair in politics - took the ball and never stopped running. But like any great fun, wild and crazy, and over the top spendthrift party comes to an end, the money's gone and bills still gotta get paid and then it gets ugly. It's amazing when I was young I could look at maps that still had big blank unexplored territories. The world was still seemed wide open beckoning to the curious young hearts out there. Today youngsters looking at the world as it is, know their elders actions have destroyed their future. There is no place for them to dream about trekking through, unless they have lots and lots of money. When I hit the road with my thumb out America was still a nice place, for the most part people and cops were nice, now everyone is scared and the 'homeless" kid traveling through is looked at like a threat. Cops are scared of everyone and everyone is scared of cops. I'm going to be witness to the fact that we fucking well knew in the 70s that we had better throttle back, YES, it did mean figuring out how to moderate our greedy instincts. Instead, we went for the steroids. I appreciate I've been struggling with' sounds over the top and I've killed that baby (h/t) - still, it's true to the bone. Oh yeah, back to your question about writing workshops, my stuff does not fit in. Oh and I can write nice stuff too, so I'm not putting down workshops do and will go to some. Still my stuff needs a special kind of adult, trust me I've been reaching out for years and in all sorts of directions. Pretty much nothing, I've even nicknamed myself the sound of one hand clapping. You should know that better than most having read my stuff for years. :) I used to kept myself in check by telling myself its my writing, ideas they're all shit and I'm the wacked out one - but damnitall if time doesn't keep proving my fears and observations to be far more accurate than the song and dance others keep feeding us - and now I'm scared as hell at the direction we are going. You know, one aspect of going to the state convention is a continuation of my search for some sort of serious writing coach or something. Till I do, I'll make due with the tidbits I get. Thanks Lausten.
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being. The convention wants to plant seeds in the minds of the delegates
Exactly, even if my stuff can be scoffed at, if any of the ideas connect, great. Let a smarter mind do something with it, and so on. Thanks Mike.
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I didn’t say “too folksy”, I said to leave that until the end, after you’ve presented your platform. Being a craftsman is not a negative, but it’s not a reason to endorse you either. It may be what led you to your conclusions, but it doesn’t communicate the same thing to everyone. I guess you need to decide how you want to come across. At this point, you seem a bit “anti”, like something’s wrong and you want to right it. The “Washington outsider” approach has certainly worked for many, so it might work for you. I would just be careful not to make that your primary message.
If you watch a good politicians speech, they’ll do that emotional messaging, usually starting positive, then do some statistics to back up what is wrong, then talk about their opponent or some cabal that needs to be addressed, then more statistics and some plans, some ideology. Mix it up. I mainly approach this from academic point of view, I tend to get tongue tied and check my notes a lot when I speak, so I’m not very inspiring.

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I didn't say "too folksy", I said to leave that until the end, after you've presented your platform. Being a craftsman is not a negative, but it's not a reason to endorse you either. It may be what led you to your conclusions, but it doesn't communicate the same thing to everyone. {i hear you} I guess you need to decide how you want to come across. At this point, you seem a bit "anti", like something's wrong and you want to right it. ...
Here we part ways. :-) But, that part of this will have wait a little longer. I did spend a couple hours reworking that intro.
I’m asking for your vote to send me to the state Democratic Convention so I can lend my support the younger voices who want to bust up DNC’s cronyism and invigorate it with energy and willingness to take on the GOP’s Alt-right attack on our Democracy. What’s my gripe with the DNC? I’m told among the first rules of any contest is: know your opponent, followed by, don’t underestimate your opponent. The DNC and DCCC has repeatedly failed on both counts, as demonstrated by serial catastrophic failures: Gore’s loss, Obama/DNC’s failure to build/maintain an informed engaged grassroots infrastructure, the Judge Merrick Garland capitulation, the 2016 campaign debacle, DCCC’s ossification, to name but the biggest. Rather than infighting and careerism the DNC and DCCC should be focused on exposing and confronting the Koch Klan’s methodical attack on our government as we know it and directly confronting their torrent of malicious calculated lies. Only through energetic intellectual confrontation with the siren song of “Libertarian" ideals and Alt-right delusions, can we hope to slow down the onslaught. For that we must take the time to learn about the rhetorical strategies they use to mislead people. Towards that end I offer the following observations. Thank you and please help send me to the state Democratic Convention. P.M. * AmericansForKochsProsperity.blogspot.com ConfrontingScienceContrarians.blogspot.com
stay tuned ;-) (the edits continue :-) ) cheers
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Printing as I post- though it looks much better in double columns form and neatly formatted. :slight_smile:

I’m asking for your vote to send me to the state Democratic Convention because I want to lend my support and encouragement to the younger voices who want to bust up DNC’s cronyism and reinvigorate it with energy and a willingness to squarely take on the GOP’s Alt-right attack on our Democracy. I’m tired of boilerplate donation pitches, and I long for a DNC email that informs, one that strives to engage the voters, one that encourages and facilitates grassroots networking, and provides a sense of community. One that reflects an energized Party ready to take on our frightening new realities. Realities that our kids seem to appreciate better than we adults. While Democratic Blue Dogs are great at asking for donations and screaming ‘Don’t Rock The Boat,’ they’ve been abject failures when it comes to engaging, informing, invigorating our grassroots and winning. What’s my gripe with the DNC ? I’m told among the first rules of any contest is: know your opponent, followed by: don’t underestimate your opponent. The DNC and DCCC has repeatedly failed on both counts, as demonstrated by serial catastrophic failures: * Gore’s loss, * Obama/DNC failure to build/maintain an informed engaged grassroots infrastructure, * Judge Merrick Garland capitulation, * The 2016 campaign debacle, * DCCC’s ossification, to name but the biggest. Rather than continual infighting and careerism the DNC and DCCC should focus on exposing and confronting the methodical attack on our government as we know it, by directly confronting the GOPs torrent of malicious calculated deceptions. Force the public dialogue back to respecting physical facts, truth and discussing the issues at hand - rather than bland acquiesce to their tactics and despicable fictions. Only through energetic intellectual confrontation with the GOP’s siren song of “Libertarian" ideals and Alt-right delusions, can we hope to slow down their onslaught. To accomplish this we must take the time to learn about the rhetorical strategies that Koch Klan’s Alt-right/Tea Party political movement uses to mislead and brainwash people. I’ve been actively engaged in debating with these delusionals for over a decade and believe I have some worthwhile observations and advice to share with younger spirits. Below I offer a rough outline of the observations I want to share while on the convention floor. Please help me get there, P M I support Cary Kennedy for Governor and Karl Hanlon for Congress ____________________________
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This turned out slightly different than I’d first envisioned it, but what else is new.
Double column definitely looks better.

The following is a work in progress - it’s intended to be a series of observations and tips from a guy with a decade of internet debate frontlines under his belt. This is intended for the uninitiated who want to engage in public debate and advocacy. If it comes across slightly amateurish, it’s because it is ( I invite you to improve on it, or to offer me some constructive feedback). I’m no journalist or scholar, I’m a craftsman with a respectable mastery in culinary arts and carpentry - but I have also been an attentive witness all my days. I’ve given this much thought, I'm hoping you’ll find what’s lacking in form, is made up for with substance. It begins with knowing how to research and learn about the issues coupled with critical thinking skills. To be successful you must study up on the issues, knowledge is power (not as much as gold is nowadays, but hey, we do the best we can with what we have.). Study the GOP’s brand of flimflam and superb wordsmithing and narrative domination. Notice how the Tea Party, Alt-right, GOP consistently depend on misrepresentations, lies, and worse, slandering decent professionals and humans in order to make their points and to instill fear and hostility into people’s hearts. Listen to how their assertions are built on tailor made hypotheticals and metaphors. rather than appraisal of objective facts. It reminds me of a sort of nostalgia, dreaming of something that never was and never could be. Learn to anticipate their tactics and be ready for them. Don’t lose your self-skepticism. Accept critique, ask for clarifications and reasons, think about it and learn from it. When you speak up to raise objections, notice how rather than addressing your objections, they’ll distract by doubling down with mischaracterization, ridicule, ad hominem, all intent on deflecting attention away from the topic at hand and throwing you off balance. If you’re wrong about something that’s a learning tool, but they’ll try to morph it into a bludgeon. Protect yourself by not taking yourself too seriously, allow your balance and grace to represent who you are - while ‘you’ focus on the issues. Be prepared for the cheap shots and hollow dismissals, expose the tactic and turn the discussion back to the point at hand and objective knowledge. Don’t allow them to get under your skin (lose your cool, you lose). Think intellectual rhetorical jujitsu and be ready to expose their game and force the dialogue back on point. You’re the messenger, you making mistakes has nothing to do with what the experts have learned! When they make ‘you’ the issue, be clear that it isn’t about ‘you’! It’s about the information you’re sharing! Remember, you’re a student of life, you don’t know everything and you make mistakes. The point is, you’ve built your understanding around solid expert knowledge. Of course, science is provisional and always ready to absorb new information, always allowing new and better facts to modify our understanding. ( look up: “Asimov - The Relativity of Wrong.") Be ready to drive home the reality that we don’t live in a wannabe world, we live on a crowded, physically battered Earth. Earth IS facing radical changes over the next decades. These WILL impact us and future generations in tough ways none can fully imagine. Still, it’s fundamental unavoidable geophysical reality, we did this. All the denial and Faith in the world is not going to wish it away. The only hope humanity has is honest assessment of the situation we find ourselves in. Then dealing with the reality, rather than squandering it all on senseless self-destructive and ultimately contrived conflicts. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There are more background issues worth thinking about and sorting out for yourself before someone puts you on the spot. Spend some time pondering the difference between “reasons" and “justifications". Striving to understand the ‘reasons’ for actions and events unfolding as they do, does not mean you are ‘justifying’ anything. Because only through that understanding can we hope to break the cycle. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life is a constant learning process, being wrong is not a gross personal affront, it is a learning opportunity that you need to take advantage of with grace, no matter how much your ego may have been bruised, you’ll come out better. That said, know that there are different kinds of critiques, constructive, factual, rational. Than there’s the malicious critique, contrived, probably build upon a shard of truth, but then weaponized to harm, rather than to inform. Learn to recognize it, think intellectual jujutsu, use the energy of your enemies attack to expose and subdue them. Considering the difference between “us" and “them" - “them" being the Tea-party, Alt-right, Koch Klan driven ideology and so called “Libertarianism." Libertarians and GOP project the belief that Earth was made for us to consume. Learn about EPA’s Scott Pruitt the Creationist who thinks science is a scam and that God commanded him and pals to consume Earth as fast as possible. (Pruitt: Bible says ‘harvest the natural resources’, TheHill.com by Tim Cama - 02/22/18 ) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I believe people live as part of a greater continuum of generations coming and going, striving for fulfilling lives, enjoying the fruits of their elders accomplishments, while in turn, striving to leave a better existent for their children and descendants. Enlightened self-interest. Earth is to be nurtured as a being in her own right. Mind you there’s a selfish aspect to this. After all, Earth’s biosphere, this “environment" that Kochs’ GOP has developed such a hostile contempt for, is in actually our life support system, we depend on her health for all we hold dear. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thank you and please help send me to the state Democratic Convention. P.M. AmericansForKochsProsperity blogspot com ConfrontingScienceContrarians blogspot com WhatsUpWithThatWatts blogspot com citizenschallenge blogspot com (I’m still looking for a skilled individual who ‘gets’ what I’m trying to do here and who’s willing to help me improve this effort.)
You know what they say The project is never finished, you just meet deadlines. oh and I'd be remiss without a h/t to Mike Yohe and Beltane, they have done much to tutor me in the ways of the contrarian mind.