Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
Retirements are a part of the political process.
If you’ve watched sports for years, you’ve unfortunately seen some truly tough moments where everyone in the stadium paused, held hands, and hoped for the best for an injured player. The player could be from the home or away team, but in the end, they are human beings with family members watching, and we all gathered our support to keep our thoughts and/or prayers with them.
We can’t really acknowledge 2022’s film successes unless we point out there have also been some god-awful failures in cinema this year. These movies are deserving of Razzies, and make you feel as though you wasted precious life even putting eyeballs toward the screen. In some cases, the film can start out with a good, sometimes great, premise—and just go wrong.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years, using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and Staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
Recently, the Washington Post ran an analysis on why rural voters trend Republican.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!
Like most people, there are a lot of moments from my childhood I remember well and moments I’ve forgotten.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years, using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and Staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
A few years ago, I wrote a diary in this series about the absolute requirements I place around running a strong canvass.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts. A few times a year, this series looks beyond campaigns and to the makeup of the party itself, the rules, resolutions, proposals and general outlook that shape what the party wants to be for the future. The Democratic Party, like everything in our life, will change and grow as our understanding and our society change and grows. It is a healthy and important part of making sure that we stay in tune with the voters we need every November.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!
Money.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!
I am an absolute sucker for Pixar films. I love almost all of them, and some of them mean a great deal to me.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years, using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
When I first started doing Democratic campaign work, talking about education was one of the only issues that Democratic campaigns felt safe discussing.
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!
Getting back to meeting in person can be difficult for most of us.
Welcome back! When I started writing Connect! Unite! Act! this week, I want to talk about the Daily Kos Liberation League. Elections are a very important way of influencing the way our nation functions. They help us protect rights, look after members of our community, and establish leadership.
Welcome back to Connect! Unite! Act! When I started writing Connect! Unite! Act! again last year, I wanted to take time to highlight the ways Daily Kos users interact with each other, build communities, and form strong relationships. During COVID, we’ve had a lot of strain put on our systems. It is easy to feel out of touch, or to miss relationships that transcend the digital.
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. Over the years, with the help of campaign staff, managers, volunteers, and organizations, I’ve worked to compile some of the best practices that have come from campaigns in the past.
We all feel a bit grumpy lately. The Supreme Court. Donald Trump. State courts. Out-of-control state legislatures. Governors who want to take away rights and hold onto power however they can. It can seem a bit daunting, can’t it?
This week on Connect! Unite! Act!, I thought maybe we could sit back and think about times when things looked bleak and the good guys managed to come through and get things done in the end.
How often have you heard Harry S. Truman’s phrase: “The most important job I ever held was that of precinct committeeman”? If you are involved in local and state politics, you may have heard this phrase quite often. Depending on who you ask within the Democratic establishment, precinct committee persons can be incredibly important or of very little consequence.
Every election I attend, I leave the office with a nice sticker that says “I Voted!”, a reminder that I participated in the process. There were a few years when I didn’t get a sticker—instead I received a lollipop (not kidding), or a pen. The pens were nice, the lollipops were decent. All of them were meant as a reminder that participating in the American experiment truly meant something.
Welcome back to Connect! Unite! Act! With the conclusion of Obi Wan this last week, there are a lot of us looking back over the various Star Wars series and what made them work. I look back at the films and I think about which ones I enjoy most and which I had the hardest time with. Honestly, it is easy for me to say that seeing The Phantom Menace in a movie theater after a long, long break between the last film was an experience unlike anything else.
This week in Nuts & Bolts, we get to tackle a subject that has left decent candidates facing a double-edged attack: What happens when party members, former incumbents, turn on Democratic candidates and refuse to support them? More importantly, what happens if these same party members go on to endorse Republicans or denounce Democrats?
Oregon residents are currently facing this with Democratic Rep.
I’ve taken time to enjoy some of the farm life over the last few months, at least off and on. We take time to care for horses, our chickens, and a few other animals. In more rural Kansas, the horses are at a point where thanks to the heat and high humidity, they need aggressive water planning as well as more frequent “spray downs” because trees that would traditionally provide cover aren’t doing as well in the last year.
Welcome back to Connect! Unite! Act! There have been a ton of stories written about Republicans defending the AR-15. One of the most frequent stories has centered around gun lovers’ defense of the assault-style weapon by pointing out it is frequently used against feral hogs, raccoons, prairie dogs, and whatever else comes to mind. I know you’ve seen the video.
“An AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens.
Welcome back to another entry into the Nuts & Bolts series! Each week I try to document information that comes from campaign managers, field directors, staff, and anyone else involved in campaigns all over the country. With the help of their input as well as our own community I’ve worked to maintain this guide for nearly a decade.
Welcome back to Connect! Unite! Act! This week was one filled with tragedy and heartbreak. In my lifetime I have been through this too many times. I cannot think of any stage in my life where I was not confronted with mass shootings. I wish I could say there was a great period in my youth where it did not happen. Even in my late forties, that just isn’t true.
Welcome back! Every week here on Nuts & Bolts I take time to look at issues surrounding big and small campaigns, and with the help of campaign staff, candidates, and organizations nationally I try to come up with a picture of what goes into a successful campaign, what we learn from the most recent elections, and the trends we think are emerging in the way we communicate our message to voters.
Over the last few days, we’ve had some diaries about religion and the impact of religion on the world and on politics. I understand the frustration with religious leaders who offer viewpoints that are damaging, not based in science, and harmful to the rights of others. Graphics, comments, quotes—they can all add up to a set of conclusions in novapsyche’s diary. Comments showed others putting forward their own thoughts, and I find everyone’s experiences meaningful.