forprogress Blog

Every time an elected official fails to do the right thing, it is a wake up call to organize more in their community.

Summary

Progressive movements fail where they are not sufficiently organized. The failure to get Senator Baucus' support in Montana is one example and illustrates what must happen everywhere we did not get support for the Dream Act. How does our organizing in Montana minority community faith, small business, higher education, and civic groups compare to similar states where we did get Senator support? How does it compare to the organization of our opponents in Montana? A brief review of "Dream Act" media mentions in the Top 3 newspapers in Montana helps us address these questions and get to next steps for the Dream Act.

Montana Media Snap Shot

Newspaper	Articles	Notes
Billings Gazett	"Dream Act is a nightmare" (Dec 17, 2010); "Dream Act is amnesty for illegal immigrants" (Dec 17)	these two are the only items that come up in a search in the "Articles" tab of their web site.
Great Falls Tribune	"Undocumented UM student's hopes hinge on DREAM bill" (Sept 27, 2009)	the only article that appears in a search of the "News"
Missoulian	"With Dream Act shelved, immigrants look to 2012" (Dec 11, 2010); "Immigrant students give blood to show citizenship" (Dec 3, 2010)	these two are the only ones that show up in an Articles search.

The best way to get your message out in the media is to have local faith, business, student, and civic groups getting the word out through communications, events, and direct engagement. Every state and district where legislators voted against us just gave us a sign that we need to organize locally. The tables at the end of this post under "Montana Organizing Opportunities" are a start, but before we get to the details let's consider how our nation is supposed to work.

The Founders of our Republic intended a system where elected representatives reflect to the will of the people. We hear that a great deal, but this is one of those moments when you can actually get beyond the rhetoric and see a clear example of this at work. We will win when Latinos and our allies in places like Montana support our position to the point where they put the fear of God into their Legislators over it.

This is a very dangerous time for the Dreamer movement. There will be those who instead of taking responsibility for what they could have done will blame the President. Some will say that the system is broken, when a careful analysis shows that the Founders intended you to have to convince sufficient majorities of states and districts before you could pass laws over them. Don't get distracted, there are thousands depending on us.

I am very proud of the youth movement behind the Dream Act and our allies; you came so close and no one can deny your growing power. Please don't get discouraged, the things that I describe above are lessons that the entire progressive movement is learning. The principal reason why we lost the Public Option, stronger tax reform, stronger Wall Street Reform, and more is the same for the greater progressive movement. Before moving to next steps, it is important to highlight what we have in common with the greater progressive movement. We face the same adversaries. As you look at the following table remember, these legislators are funded and backed by groups in their states that we must organize to overcome.

Party	Senate Dream Act Votes	Total Senators	% of Total
D support	52	57	91%
R support	03	41	7%

Next Steps

Strategies

1. Punish Republican Party - Politicians and the system they are a part of only care about you if you can organize to the point where you can take power away from them. If we allow the racists ads in Florida, Nevada, and more; the right wing media personalities fomenting hysteria; and the voting record to go unpunished we are telling the political world to ignore us because they can do what they want and we will leave them in power. In grade school it is made very plain that 91% is excellent and that 7% is extremely poor. The best thing that Latino Republicans can do to change their party is to make them accountable for their actions.
2. Work for Our Legislative Allies - We must support those who support us. If you don't, the message you send to elected officials is that you should not take any risks for Latinos, because they will abandon you on election day. We should begin now with public thank yous through the media and internet thanking everyone who supported us. However, it is more important that we prepare to support the re-election of those who supported us with volunteer hours and fund raising. If we want a sustainable political movement then the people who support us must get re-elected!
3. Campaign Against Legislative Opposition - Starting with those who are most vulnerable in the 2012 elections, you must punish those who filibustered the Dream Act. If they can do this to us without any consequences, then what you tell everyone is that we are a bunch of chumps and that there is nothing to fear from doing this to us. In fact, it is important that you make a clear example out of one of them immediately. More importantly, look for a way of challenging them for election with someone who will make the Dream Act a primary campaign point.
4. The Enemy of My Enemy is My Potential Ally - We must be on the lookout for opportunities to help others deliver justice to those who are attacking our communities. The same false Christians who back racist laws against immigrants are the same hateful people persecuting gays. The agribusinesses that fund these racist politicians are also being challenged by the environmentalists. We must help them, if we are to build the kind of movement that can overcome our common adversaries.

Tactics

• Letters to the Editor from members of these communities
• Public testimonials to members of Congress from leaders in these communities
• Solidarity events in their communities
• Media Mentions

Notes

I wish we tracked the number of Montana church sermons that explained the Dream Act in a positive light. A database of how many leaders in the following communities rallied their people to action in support of the Dream Act would really help. This is how to begin measuring the level of support you have in a State or Congressional District. Can our movement honestly say that we engaged and connected these communities of Montana to our cause? What does the media coverage suggest about the strength of our position as compared to that of our opponents? These strategies and tactics are a few ways in which we can measure our strength relative to our opponents and move toward Legislative Victory.

Montana Organizing Opportunities

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