One Blue Paperclip
Election Day 2006 is coming up fast. The Democrats have a chance to retake Congress and put a check on the power of the Bush Administration and its cronies.
But Beltway insiders expect turnout to be low, like it usually is for midterm elections. And this suits the Republicans just fine—they know that low turnout helps them, and increases the chance that business as usual will rule in Washington.
Are progressives going to let that happen?
We say: no way. But to stop it, we need to start evangelizing. We need to constantly remind Americans that apathy this fall will mean two more years of the same: more war, more mismanagement and corruption, more excesses from an unchecked, imperial presidency.
Taking inspiration from the success of Kyle MacDonald (and from Malcolm Gladwell, who showed how little things truly can make a big difference), letÕs spread blue paperclips to turn American blue again.
HereÕs all you need to do:
Get set up. Go out to your local office supplies store and buy a box of blue paperclips. (If you canÕt find them at your local store, you can buy them online here -- search on this page for ÒES5030Ó to find the item)
Get the word out. Between now and November 7th, use a blue paperclip whenever you can.
* Need to clip a memo together to hand to a co-worker?
* Need to clip a photo of your granddaughter to a personal letter?
* Need to clip a check to your credit card bill?
Use one blue paperclip!
Then, get registered & get involved. Make sure that you and your friends and family are registered to vote. ItÕs easy to do!
Once youÕre registered, go out and get involved in your community. You can hook up with get-out-the-vote efforts through America Votes, a coalition of thirty different grass-roots progressive groups that are organizing for change in November.
If Kyle MacDonald can use one red paperclip to Òtrade upÓ to
a house, we can use our blue paperclips to trade up to real leadership in Washington!
