Membership Pamphlet for 2009

Eastern

Washington

Voters

Advancing progressive issues & strengthening democratic institutions

Making a difference is possible.  Our volunteers have frequently proved this. 

In 2008 we helped elect Pat O’Neill to the Whitman County Commission in a close race. 

In 2006, Eastern Washington Voters help Bonnie Mager win a Spokane County Commission seat in an even closer race. 

In 2004, we handed out 5,000 flyers about Gov. Gregoire. She won by 129 votes, and signed into law expanded health care coverage and green building standards. 

 

Who we are

We are a people-powered organization of average citizens who are passionate about strengthening democracy and advancing progressive issues through the electoral process.  Our organization is not affiliated with any political party. 

What we do

Eastern Washington Voters is building a regional, membership-based political action organization with a strong grassroots ability to advance progressive candidates and issues by doorbelling and leafleting, registering voters, get out the vote, and media work.  Our strategy is to mobilize volunteers and money from across Eastern Washington and then focus these on key races.  We identify winnable issues and candidates that share our values.

Taking action, not talking, wins elections:  We individually distributed by hand over 90,000 leaflets about candidates and issues, registered hundreds of voters, paid for radio ads, helped film a TV ad to defeat I-933 using crop art, and gathered 3,000 signatures for I-933 on renewable energy. 

Innovating: We are constantly trying new tactics to make the grassroots more effective.  For example, we have developed techniques to make voter contacts and distributed campaign literature by hand to tens of thousands of people. 

Doing the work that most others won't:  In addition to congressional and other high profile races, we work on less glamorous but equally important judicial, non-partisan, and down-the-ticket races. These include: 

·Commissioner of Public Lands

·Superintendent of Public Instruction

·Secretary of State

·State Supreme Court

These offices are too important to ignore as they have a large impact on the environment, education, health care, fair elections, and many other issues. 

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Who we support

We want candidates who will fight with passion for health care, labor, the environment, education, multilateral foreign policy, family farms, east-side economies, pro-choice policy, and stand firm against discrimination based on gender, race, disability, religion, and sexual orientation.  However, a candidate's ability to advance this agenda is more important than labels of conservative, moderate, liberal, or progressive. 

Most politicians are followers, not leaders.  We want elected leaders who will empower their constituents, advance a progressive agenda by staking out positions on the issues, have the courage to take temporarily unpopular positions, and stand firm against the far right. 

We can win

In fact, we have won.  There are now three legislators from eastern Washington that are progressive Democrats.  However, the number of  close races suggests that we could win more often if the movement had more organization and resources. 

Meaningful solutions

It is important for people to vote, but it is more important for them to think critically about candidates and issues. Currently, there is a large amount of good information that is available.  We have the Internet, 24-hour news, and live broadcasts of congress. 

However, how can we get people to look for and examine this information? To think critically?  To gain faith in government?  To become excited about politics? 

These things are incredibly important, but extremely challenging.  We don't have easy answers, but we know that a few things are important. 

Exciting, empowering candidates will mean excited and empowered voters.  The most important thing that EWV can do to get people interested in politics is to find people with courage and vision to run for elected office. 

To feel empowered, citizens need meaningful ways to participate in the electoral process.  We want to empower young people and political novices of all ages by giving them the opportunity to participate in EWV and make a real difference.  If we help them develop their skills and confidence, some of them might be the next generation of progressive leaders and political candidates. 

Past areas of emphasis: Judicial races

We still care about the courts of course.  However, as we have moved on to other issues we have spent less time on judicial races. Regardless, the politicization of the courts has been a travesty to our democratic institutions.  The far right wants to undermine the independence of the judicial branch and align it with their extreme agenda of concentrated federal power, fewer environmental protections, and theocracy. 

The far right easily manipulates how people vote in judicial races, because voters have scant information and pay little attention. They win by merely running candidates with simple, easy to remember, Anglo-Saxon names that appeal to voters.  In 2004, they elected Jim Johnson who had no prior judicial experience to the State Supreme Court but who was well know for his conservative views. 

We must take politics out of the courts.  Eastern Washington Voters does not use a political litmus test for judicial candidates.  Instead, we support mainstream judicial candidates who are fair, experienced, and knowledgeable.  The best people to assess judicial candidates are the bar associations.  Using evaluations by bar associations, we construct scorecards of judicial candidates and distribute them by hand and mail.