Partner

Our democracy is under siege. Laws are written to disenfranchise millions and our voices go unheard. Progressives organize but are drowned out by radical billionaires. Lines are drawn to divide communities and weaken our power. Too often, our courts are politicized and fail to protect our democracy against these attacks.  

The rules of the game are stacked against progress. And the very foundation of America’s democracy is at stake.

The consequences aren’t hypothetical. The cost of inaction couldn’t be more real. Voters head to the ballot box and limit who can marry, who has access to health care, whose kids deserve access to good schools.

It may seem like ballot measures weren’t really around in Paul Wellstone’s day. But the truth is that for decades, conservatives have strategically used ballot initiatives to push their extreme agenda. To make matters worse, progressives have spent over a billion dollars playing defense – and too often, we’ve lost – or protected a status quo that just isn’t good enough. 

How do you build a national movement, based in the states? And how do you build this movement so that it’s rooted in progressive values?  

Most importantly, how do you make sure that movement is built to win? With real governing power so that politicians are accountable to people, not Wall Street?

Once again this weekend, the nation’s attention focused on Arizona. And not for a good reason.

This might be the understatement of the year, “Texas is a big state.” Yep, Texas is big: big geographically, big population, big economy, and big by the countless numbers of cultures, communities, and traditions that make up the people of the Lone Star State.

So if you want to organize the state, to build progressive power over the long-haul, to work towards a state with elected officials who better represent the state’s quickly shifting demographics, you’ve got a big job to do.

Put yourself in these shoes: you’re part of a vital statewide organization advocating progressive change. You fight for critical progressive policy solutions that will have an important impact on people’s lives across your state. And you want to take that fight where it leads, whether through direct action, like picketing, or through holding elected officials’ feet to the fire after bad votes.

What better way to celebrate my birthday than with 60 progressives in gorgeous Bozeman, Montana?

Changing the choices – who’s running for office and who’s winning elections – is one thing. One very important thing. But Wellstone Action is also focused on changing the electorate, ensuring that those who hold office are held accountable by a powerful, organized progressive movement.