I do not have a statewide role in the Jerry Brown for Governor campaign — and I certainly do not speak for it!  I do volunteer for the campaign, though, as one of the people out in the local areas.  I’m trying to make sure that people in the grassroots can find each other, help whip up the campaign’s visibility and enthusiasm, and get out the message.

In that role, I’ve gotten some feedback: a lot of people, including young people who weren’t paying close attention to politics from 1974-1982 (not yet existing, after all), don’t yet know much about Jerry Brown.

The good news about that is that it’s a problem we can fix!

Now, the campaign is putting out a lot of information, and it’s working the Facebook page, but they keep telling us volunteers that we have a lot of latitude in how we organize our communities.

And that’s when I thought of all of you.  I think that you can help Brown win, from your own computers.

I stress: what I’m doing here is a wildcat, grassroots effort — which I construe to include the netroots.  The campaign doesn’t know in advance that I’m doing this; my understanding is that I don’t have to ask their permission.  So this is the initiative of one volunteer-activist who is trying to elect Brown, not of the overall campaign.

In the various campaigns on which I’ve worked, I’ve generally been (with varying success) an evangelist for the netroots.  People here are smart, you’re good writers, a lot of you have the time and energy to do research and write up something amazing, and most of you are yearning to contribute where you can.  While the state campaign will do its own messaging, I think that the netroots can offer a separate creative channel that may produce materials that dazzles even them.

So, I want to see what you all can do.  I’m “commissioning your work” at the median Jerry Brown Campaign salary of $0.00 (rounded down).  If what you produce is good, I will try to get it into as many hands as possible.  (I’ve already found that the campaign is responsive to good ideas from outside of its central command — and as a grassroots organizer with lots of latitude as to how to manage my area I’m making part of my task getting good ideas and work product from the netroots and trying to get the best of it into the right hands.

I make no promises as to how your work will be received by the campaign, but if it looks good I will do my best to ensure that it will be received.  That’s not an offer you can get from just anywhere!  And, of course, you can do this from anywhere, whether or not you’re in California.

Here are some things on which I’d like your help:

(1) Introducing people to Jerry Brown

The campaign has some materials introducing voters to Brown.  I’d like to see what you can come up with.  In particular, I’m interested in single-page flyers to help introduce Brown to students, to ethnic and racial minority communities, etc.  The man has a pretty great record, especially on environmental issues and human rights!  He’s got strong issues on education, labor, and fundamental economic fairness.  These would be positive pieces, talking solely about Jerry Brown rather than his opponent, the two-faced, lying, autocratic plutocrat Meg Whitman.  (Whoops!  Well, at least I can back up all of those words!)

(2) Collecting and consolidating netroots knowledge of Meg Whitman

Brown’s advantages and disadvantages in running against Whitman are well-known.  There’s only one major disadvantage: she has already spent around $110 million on the campaign; going past $150 million is a given and it would not be shocking if she went over $200 million.  Brown’s advantages are that he has a good record and he doesn’t have to pay people to like him.  But there’s another great advantage that we can help take advantage of, if we play our cards right:

Meg Whitman is an abominable candidate!

She hides from the press, she ducks debates, she doesn’t want anything to do with real people who are hurting from policies she supports.  But more than that, she lies and misrepresents and contradicts herself in ways that people can keep track of!  So that is what I’m asking you, collectively, to do: help keep track of Meg’s awfulness — both her gaffes and her awful policies — in a place where everyone can see it, write about it, organize it, bear it in mind, and spread the word about it.

We actually have a tool for that, one that gets used too infrequently: DKosopedia.  You’ll need to create an account and then you can weigh in and help keep a tally of Meg’s atrocities — past, present, and promised.  I’ve set up the “Meg Whitman page” here; once you’re there you write and edit it just like Wikipedia.  I’d like this to become a major resource for those opposed to Meg Whitman!  Wouldn’t you?  (Then sign up and start using it!)

(3) Help make more accessible Jerry Brown’s strong record as AG.

Calling my fellow lawyers and those interested in Law!  Jerry Brown has been a good Attorney General, especially compared to any conceivable Republican, and we need to get out that word!  I’d like to have a one-page flyer spelling out Brown’s accomplishments on behalf of consumers, the environment, civil rights, and more.  If you’d like to take notes by adding to Brown’s DKosopedia page, please do — it’s a great place to gather information!

(4) Brainstorming on visibility

Much of what we volunteers in local areas are supposed to do is to maintain the campaign’s visibility with the creative deployment of volunteers.  I’ve got some ideas about that; chances are that all of you have better ones.  Let’s hear them!  Extra points for activities that would be lots of fun.

I think that four tasks like that should be enough for a first diary asking for this sort of help.  But if you have more that you’d like to say about how to beat Meg’s Millions, speak up!

Here’s what I am not going to do in this diary, though: I’m not going to debate Brown’s record, whether he’s progressive or moderate enough, etc.  There’s a time for that — and the last three months of the election isn’t it!  So, please, contribute what positive suggestions about how to reach people.  I want to be able to show people from the campaign that the netroots is as creative and brilliant as I say it is.

I look forward to seeing what you’ve got!