We formed a small action team at the first Meet Up I attended in an adjacent small town. I live in the largest town in our Mid Willamette Valley at 55K; however, the area is mostly rural. We have a Facebook page, Rural Oregon for Bernie, which is focused on our heart of the valley to network and help each other.
We have posted the first Meet Up in Corvallis. I have done the now familiar Bernie-venue-shuffle and upgraded to a library meeting room which seats 120. I did a last minute advertising stint at our local Fourth of July parade which convinced me to do the upgrade when I saw the crowd response.
We are partnering with Progressive Democrats of America through their We Want Bernie project. Not a super PAC, they are a ten-year-old organization which has been organizing for Bernie for over a year. Like all organizing to build capacity for the Movement which Bernie's election and subsequent governing requires, this is a DYI effort; however, they are lavish in their advice and provision of campaign "swag". We have cross posted our event with Bernie's campaign and the People For Bernie site. We plan to make a presence in the many Farmer's Markets in our area. That can be as simple as one person with a clip board and pamphlets or a table staffed with volunteers.We chose July 29 for the Meet Up in response to Bernie's email asking for people to gather on that day to discuss policy proposals which he will be bringing out as the date nears. We expect some kind of agenda from someone.
Two things occurred to me as I worked on this.
One is that, here we are, citizens organizing for our Democratic candidate of choice outside the local party apparatus. This is just a microcosm of what is occurring nationwide and a phenomenon which the Democratic Party ought to embrace as a major revitalization of the party and a perfect GOTV effort.
Second, I realized that it did not matter that Oregon is way down on the list of influential electoral states with few votes and a primary date of May 17, 2016. Bernie's campaign, as well as the Movement he is calling for, is a 50 state strategy. Every state, every citizen matters in both these campaigns.
HERE is a link to RSVP through the Progressive Democrats of America site We Want Bernie if you are close enough to come.