PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Progressives Continue to Organize at League of Independent Voters Conference
by Eric Christopher Sloss Friday, Aug. 05, 2005 at 7:00 PM

PITTSBURGH, PA -In front of the University of Pittsburgh Law School under gray skies, some rain drizzle and loud trucks roaring by, a spirited group of attendees of Smackdown 2005, the League of Independent Voters Conference, sat nestled behind a non-working podium for a press conference. There, Khari Mosley, Pennsylvania and Ohio Organizer for League stood ready and addressed the crowd with a legion of 100 supporters “getting his back.” The conference itself is in day two of activities August 4 - 7.

Smackdown 2005 is a national conference for League organizers, trainers and local organizations. The conference aims to educate people about organizing for political progressive purposes. After some panel discussions and a happy hour at a sponsoring hotel, the weekend continued with more discussion, performances, speakers, and panel discussions to teach all levels of organizing.

At the press conference, most of the crowd stood behind the podium, maybe unsure where to stand. A few meager reporters and stragglers became the few front audience members for the press conference. Organizers from the league itself came from San Fransico, Albuquerque, Portland and other locations around the United States States.

Curtis Jones Jr. who, at 29, won the right to take a crack at the City Council seat in Erie, made the trip to arm him with grassroots organizing skills. He, like many speakers attended as students as well. “I'm here to make connections with other progressive individuals throughout the country. To make connections locally in Pittsburgh and take them to Erie.”

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto, not pleased with the folks in front of him decided to turn around and address supporters behind him. Everyone had a message today; he had one, and put the impact of the local organizers' work in an international perspective. “[Smackdown] is about empowering people with the tools to change the community they live in. We have elections coming up that are not only going to set the stage for national politics but for world policy. What we do right here goes far beyond what you are doing for Pittsburgh."

William Upsky Wimsatt, co-editor of “How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office” and the founder of the League of Pissed off Voters said, “Pittsburgh is the shit, the whole process that Khari Mosley pulled together for this is unprecedented. The work of the young people in Pittsburgh who built a new political force in the city made this region a natural choice to host this conference.”

Additional speakers at the press conference included Celeste Hill, Pittsburgh for Open Government, Joni Rabinowitz, Just Harvest, Chuck Pennaccio, History Professor and US Senatorial Candidate for Pennsylvania and Shae McKinney, Project Blue Stone an internet organizing company. To end this meeting, as if straight out of the mouth of a WWE wrestler, Mosley said, “Are you ready for the Smackdown!” The crowd cheered and dispersed to make the 10 a.m. sessions, all knowing there is more work to be done.

Along with the workshops during the day, evening events, which are open to the public, highlight the mix of culture and politics. Tonight, at 9 pm, the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty, hosts open-mic night. It features spoken word and hip hop artists from Pittsburgh and around the country. Saturday night at 10 p.m., the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District hosts a party for participants and the public.


For more information visit http://www.indyvoter.org/modinput4.php?modin=198

www.indyvoter.org

I'm very skeptical of this organization
by - Saturday, Aug. 06, 2005 at 8:36 PM

questions I have:

what does "progressive" mean to the League? Can anyone just label themselves a progressive or does it represent some tangible ideas?

why is it considered the league of independant voters when pretty much everyone mentioned in the article is a Democrat?

Skepticism is justifed
by - Monday, Aug. 08, 2005 at 9:01 PM

They said partcipants at the counter recruitment action could eat, and then the tall hipster from the registration table tried to kick us out, but was ignored and hot dogs, veggie dogs, salad and bougie pop were enjoyed by all. Typical authoritarian backstabbing.

re: independent etc.
by Lorraine B Sunday, Aug. 21, 2005 at 2:49 PM
aftertheelection@hotmail.com 614-668-2033 Columbus, OH 43202

re: what does "progressive" mean to the League/tangible ideas etc. --

Each local League chapter independently develops its own platform statement that is relevant to its members/constituency and the local issues in their area. Some chapters' platform statements contain very specific stances on local/national issues, while others express more general values (in the style of the national League's statement, which you can check out at http://www.indyvoter.org/article.php?id=29). Here in Columbus we are still working on our platform statement, which we'll use as a guide when it comes time to endorse candidates this fall.

Some chapters don't use the term "progressive" at all, because they feel it's an overused label that doesn't have a lot of meaning anymore.

re: "why is it considered the league of independant voters when pretty much everyone mentioned in the article is a Democrat?"

The League is independent in that we don't do blanket endorsements of candidates based on party affiliation. An organization that is not independent, for instance, an organization that is formally affiliated/funded by, say, the democratic party, is going to endorse 100% democrats with no possibility for exceptions to that.

The League evaluates each candidate individually. In Columbus we interview the candidates in person or by phone, look at their voting record if they've held office before, look at what has been said in the media about them, etc. In 2004 the Columbus League ended up endorsing lots of democrats, one republican, and the one independent/Green who was running here. It was a matter of who was most in line with our values and goals, not what party they were with. There were also several races with one democrat and one republican and we found both candidates so abysmal that we didn't make an endorsement at all. An organization affiliated with the democratic party would have endorsed the democrat in such races.

There are League chapters who endorsed 100% democrats in 2004. This isn't the result of any affiliation with the party, but rather the pool of candidates who were running in their local races. We are well aware that party label often says very little, so we are open to endorsing republicans as well as democrats and independents/Greens. We're also aware that there are many democratic candidates whose hearts are with the Green party but they've run as democrats so they can access more campaign support and actually have a shot at winning.

For all of these reasons, here in Columbus we don't get too hung up on party affiliation. In the end, we endorse the candidates that come closest to what we want. At the same time, we are also looking at the long-term picture and starting to plant the seeds to train our own people to run for office. There are already League chapters across the country who are running their own candidates.

To answer your question more specifically -- "...pretty much everyone mentioned in the article is a Democrat?" I think that's a question for the candidates, and also for all the Independent people out there who have contemplated running for office but never have, and for all of us (myself included) who have had a friend who thought about running for office but it never occurred to us to give them some campaign money to get them off the ground. So far it has been Democratic candidates and officeholders who have stepped forward into dialogue with the League. We look forward to a day when more Independent, Green, and Republican candidates and officeholders come forth as well.

www.indyvoter.org