Progress Illinois

David Sirota recently took to the web pages of Chicago’s own In These Times to spotlight two national non-profits that are working to “ensure that the recent surge in Democratic voter turnout becomes the foundation of a lasting political infrastructure for progressives” — not just a passing fad.

One of these organizations, the Seattle-based Democrats Work, seeks to "mobilize grassroots Democrats to perform community service projects." The other, Blue Tiger Democrats, encourages its members to "strengthen[] the roots of party organizations at the local level through civic engagement."

From Sirota’s piece:

“People only see the Democratic Party at election time, and that has to change,” says Mark Brewer, the Michigan Democratic chairman who, along with New York party officials, is employing Blue Tiger’s methods. In the forgotten corners of both states, Blue Tiger sponsors food drives, roadside cleanups and computer training seminars — all under the banner of the Democratic Party.

Democrats Work and Blue Tiger Democrats are merely two examples of Democrats’ renewed focus on turnout and base participation — a more logical priority than the party’s old “swing” strategies that concentrate exclusively on winning independents. After all, Republican strongholds like Colorado, Nevada and Ohio contain overwhelmingly Democratic population centers. A sustained turnout boost in those cities could easily tip statewide results — and thus, alter the national political map.

But changing red states to blue states is only one objective of the permanent campaign. Deepening the hue of existing blues is another.

Sounds like something Illinois progressives should get behind.

Sirota goes on to provide a case study in how grassroots organization recently led a progressive challenger to victory in a Maryland Democratic primary:

Just weeks ago progressive activist Donna Edwards crushed Maryland Rep. Al Wynn in a Democratic primary. She attacked the more conservative incumbent for supporting lobbyist-written legislation that helps banks gouge consumers. Edwards won her underdog race thanks, in part, to two other wings of the permanent campaign: Liberal blogs helped her raise money, and groups like the Service Employees International Union aided her get-out-the-vote operations.

The support, along with the presidential primary hype, doubled the district’s turnout over the last election. Edwards, who lost the contest two years before, won the same race by a wide margin and is now the presumptive general-election winner. In other words, the rise in Democratic turnout helped the more progressive candidate win. Such a dynamic could be replicated in other down-ballot races if the permanent campaign succeeds in raising voter turnout for good. And over time, that would move the Democratic Party in a more populist direction.

Counted together, Democrats Work and Blue Tiger Democrats have a presence in more than ten states. Unfortunately, Illinois isn’t one of them.

So what will it take to change that?

Anyone can get the ball rolling. Indeed, Democrats Work offers clear instructions on how, with their help, you can organize a DW service outing in your area: Simply pick a project, find local organizations and public figures that might be willing to partner with you, direct folks to the sign-up page you set up on the DW website, and off you go.