Ongoing Politically Conscious Base Building

Pushback Network helped us look beyond ourselves as an organization and accelerated the trajectory of our statewide efforts to get our organizing work to scale. We knew we couldn’t do it by ourselves. PBN helped us articulate the elements of our work that are unique, while forming the basis to develop alliances with other states.” – Robby Rodriguez, SouthWest Organizing Project

Nationally based election efforts that have “parachuted” agents into local communities for mass voter engagement have not built lasting power on the ground because they have been largely disconnected from pre-existing infrastructure.

Stories from the Ground

It is well established that direct voter contact by neighborhood-based messengers is the most effective tool to persuade and mobilize voters into action. Each PBN State Alliance agrees to the development of multi-dimensional, multi-constituency, multi-issue strategies that build an on-going progressive, politically conscious base.

Base building is a two way street. We work both to educate our base constituencies about policy issues while our base constituencies develop avenues for our own education about issues about the issues most important to them. State Alliances develop plans that increasingly integrate civic engagement with year-round, ongoing community and issue organizing.

Highlights from the states

  • 2007 was the first year that the legislature fully funded the MS Adequate Education Program that provides 70% of local school district resources. The commitment from both Democrats and Republicans to fully fund the MAEP in 2008 means that we will be able to focus on increased funding for children-at-risk, implementing the state’s new Dropout Prevention Plan, working to abolish corporeal punishment and working to reform the state budget process that controls education policy.
  • California partners developed alliance-wide campaign criteria and endorsement processes for statewide issues and initiatives.
  • KFTC and KYJwJ worked together with PBN staff and organizers to host the first PBN National Convening. Download the 2007 National Convening Report (.pdf) to learn more.