Saturday, February 26, 2011: Solidarity Comes to Portsmouth

Save Our Bridges! Campaign Gearing Up for April 28 Rally

Back in December 2008, Seacoast for Change volunteers met to discuss what sort of causes and actions our grassroots network should prioritize going forward, and a number of supporters expressed an interest in working on local issues. In response to those comments, I've made an effort to reach out to other community-directed organizations that share our commitment to progress. One of the top concerns raised by the forward-thinking leaders of Seacoast Local was the precarious state of the Memorial Bridge.

Seacoast for Change has joined an ad hoc coalition of Greater Seacoast non-profit and business groups seeking to raise public support for repair and rehabilitation, rather than replacement, of the Memorial Bridge and its upstream neighbor, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. Both spans are in urgent need of attention -- the Memorial Bridge, which is ranked No. 1 on the NH Department of Transportation's "red list," is estimated to have a remaining lifespan of 5 years or less. Permanently removing either bridge from service would have a significant impact on the Seacoast area economy, with small businesses in Kittery taking the hardest hit. The Memorial Bridge also has historical, cultural, and recreational value for members of the surrounding community, and is a scenic attraction for local residents and out-of-town visitors.

Several recent stories and editorials in the Portsmouth Herald address the uncertain fate of the two lower Piscataqua spans (links to new and past articles on the bridge debate are archived on the New Hampshire Gazette web site -- you can find them here). Plans to repair the Memorial Bridge for long-term use have been completed, and federal dollars to cover nearly all of the cost of rehabilitating both bridges are available through President Obama's economic stimulus package. These projects are shovel-ready -- work can begin as soon as state officials on both sides of the river authorize funding. NH DOT has signed off on the proposed repairs. Officials at ME DOT remain favorable to replacing the older bridges with a single, high-span structure to be built at an unspecified location between the existing spans. The older bridges would not necessarily be demolished, but would be closed to all cross-river traffic.

While particpating in the Save Our Bridges! campaign may seem unrelated to our usual efforts to organize in support of President Obama's policy priorities, I feel this project is entirely consistent with the spirit of his vision to rebuild and renew America by investing in essential infrastructure and promoting civic engagement. It's also a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with local groups who do not necessarily see their primary mission as political, but understand the importance of mobilizing popular support to solve public problems.

The Seacoast Save Our Bridges! campaign will formally kick-off with a lunch-hour rally on Tuesday, April 28. Visibilities are planned in Portsmouth and Kittery locations -- stay tuned for details. The campaign is also launching a petition drive and a letter-to-the-editor writing campaign (you can check out the PortsmouthBridges web site for updates and sign the petition online).

Follow Up: Portsmouth "Meet Your Legislators" Forum

Photo: NH Senator Martha Fuller Clark spoke about the importance of having citizen input on legislative issues. Also pictured (left to right): moderator Hillary Niles, Rep. Jim Splaine, Rep. Paul McEachern, Rep. Laura Pantelakos, House Speaker Terie Norelli, Rep. Jackie Cali-Pitts, Rep. Rich DiPentima, and Rep. Robin Read.

The Seacoast for Change "Meet Your Legislators" forum (April 4) was informative and well-received by those who attended the Saturday morning event. NH Speaker of the House Terie Norelli and NH State Senator Martha Fuller Clark provided a brief overview of how a bill becomes law in New Hampshire, inlcuding the process of Committee reviews and public hearings. While discussing the influence of professional lobbyists in Concord, Senator Fuller Clark emphasized how important it is for ordinary citizens to speak out on legislative issues. Portsmouth Representatives Jackie Cali Pitts, Rich DiPentima, Paul McEarchern, Laura Pantelakos, Robin Read, and Jim Splaine answered questions from the audience, which included concerns about the just-passed seat belt law and reducing retirement benefits for state employees. The discussion was moderated by Hilary Niles, producer of Front Door Politics NH (www.frontdoorpolitics.com). The forum was covered by Foster's Daily Democrat -- you can read the story here.

Special thanks to Larry Drake and Joan Jacobs, who took the lead on organizing the event.

Follow Up: "Be the Change" Organizing Meeting, February 25

Thanks to everyone who joined us in Portsmouth last week for our February organizing meeting. We had a full house and covered a lot of ground -- and it was clear from the evening's discussion that there's no shortage of opportunities for Seacoast for Change volunteers to strengthen our community and take action for the change we believe in.

Representatives from several local organizations were on hand to talk about their projects and how grassroots activists can get involved:

David Stylianou, regional field organizer of the NH for Health Care campaign, spoke about the importance of getting a public conversation started about why all Americans need affordable, quality health care now, and how his organization will be working over the next 6-8 months to spread that conversation in New Hampshire and 16 other states.

Karen Marzloff of Seacoast Local was not able to stay and speak to the entire group, but did share information about Seacoast Local's mission to promote community sustainability by supporting locally-owned businesses and environmentally-responsible practices in the Seacoast region.

Robin Albert of the United Way of the Greater Seacoast Volunteer Action Center described her agency's program to match up area volunteers with local organizations, and introduced the newly-launched Seacoast 20/20 Community Vision Project (which you can read more about here).

NH Democratic Party Field Director Ryan Mahoney spoke about NHDP's goal to strengthen local Democratic organizations in preparation for the 2010 election, and how grassroots volunteers can have an important role in sustaining New Hampshire's progressive momentum.

Laurie McCray, Larry Drake, and Joan Jacobs made announcements about two upcoming events to share information about state policy issues and connect community members with local legislators. On Saturday, March 21, Seacoast for Change and Portsmouth Democrats will co-host a community forum with NH House Speaker Terie Norelli and Senator Martha Fuller Clark on how the proposed state budget will impact the Seacoast region. In April, Seacoast for Change invites Portsmouth voters to "Meet Your Legislators" for a discussion of legislative priorities; the event will be moderated by Hilary Niles, editor of Front Door Politics NH. Also in the works: A community forum on working women and families in the NH economy, and a presentation and discussion on affordable health care as a women's issue. More information on these and other Seacoast for Change events will be available soon!

Near the end of the meeting, we had a lively discussion about the best way for concerned citizens to share their views with elected officials and decision-makers. People were so fired up by this topic that we've decided to organize a workshop on how to make your voice heard on policy matters, from calling your members of congress to spending a day at the State House. Stay tuned for more details.

Our Economic Recovery Meeting (and what we really talked about)

A small but engaged group turned out for the Seacoast for Change Economic Recovery Meeting at The Friendly Toast on Wednesday, February 11. The Portsmouth event was one of approximately 3,500 gatherings organized by grassroots volunteers in over 1,500 cities in response to a call by Organizing for America (aka "OFA 2.0") to gather friends and neighbors to share fact sheets and talking points on the Obama administration's stimulus plan. The main focus of the meetings, according to the event hosting guide, "is to share your story, the story of your neighbors, and collect the stories of your community during this economic crisis" -- and report it all to OFA 2.0 through the organization's web site.

As OFA 2.0's first official attempt to enlist the pro-Obama masses to support the President's agenda, the economic recovery meetings have received considerable press attention (WMUR sent a news crew to cover our Seacoast get-together). Not all media reports have been positive (there's a good summary here on the FiveThirtyEight blog), with several news stories and commentaries painting OFA 2.0 as dead on arrival. Even the most optimistic coverage acknowledges that convincing a diverse and independent-minded grassroots base to amplify President Obama's message with a single voice is going to be tricky, and the whole thing could fall flat if the budding army of citizen activists grows disenchanted with OFA 2.0's not-so-inclusive approach to social movement organizing. But it's also clear from reports that Seacoast for Change is one of dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of well-organized, ready-to-go grassroots groups planning action in communities around the country.

On the topic of media reporting, it was pretty obvious that the WMUR reporter who covered Wednesday night's event had been assigned a story on public reaction to debates about the stimulus plan in relation to NH infrastructure spending -- which is an important and timely issue, but I can assure you that those of us who gathered at the Toast last night did not spend the entire evening to talking about the sad state of the Memorial Bridge, and what to do about it. We did, however, talk about the need to increase education spending and create new jobs by investing in green industry, solving the health care crisis, filling the gaps in publicly-funded safety net through community service, and the causes and consequences of extreme income inequality in the United States. (Due to a technical glitch, we did not view a short video of DNC Chair Tim Kaine responding to questions about the stimulus package and announcing the soon-to-be launched recovery.gov web site, which you can watch here.)

With the stimulus bill on track for a final vote before the end of the day, it's worth noting that although far from perfect, the recovery package is -- as Bernie Horn writes for the Campaign for America's Future blog -- "the biggest and boldest progressive legislation of the past 40 years" and a Darn Good First Step.

Momentum Watch: '08 Gallup Polls Shade NH Solid Blue

An analysis of Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from 2008 finds that 49 percent of New Hampshire voters affiliate with the Democratic Party, compared to 36 percent who identify with or lean toward the GOP. That 13 percentage point gap places New Hampshire among 29 other states ranked "solidly" Democratic by the Gallup organization, with six states "leaning" blue. Only four states -- Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah -- were ranked solidly Republican in 2008, with one state (Nebraska) leaning. The remaining states -- all of which were carried by McCain in the November election -- are considered "competitive," with the partisan advantage to either party under 5 points.

While Gallup reports that results from the state-level analysis are consistent with national polls finding that a majority of Americans affiliated with any political party leaned toward or identified as Dems in 2008, election results suggest a robust population of Democratic sympathizers is not enough to guarantee that a state will actually vote for Democratic candidates. As the report explains,

Given that most states had a Democratic advantage in party affiliation last year, to some degree it can be argued that Barack Obama could have won many more electoral votes than he did. In fact, Obama won 28 states (plus the District of Columbia) to John McCain's 22 in the 2008 election.

There are several reasons for possible disparities between the party affiliation data and the voting outcomes in a given state. First, turnout has typically been an equalizer in U.S. electoral politics because Democrats almost always have an advantage in identification, but Republicans have been competitive in national and state elections over the last three decades because Republicans are usually more likely than Democrats to vote. Second, one's partisan leaning is not a perfect predictor of voting in a presidential election, in which candidate-specific characteristics can influence a voter's choice. (Emphasis added.)

More momentum: Americans (heart) Democrats!
A report published today by Pew Research finds that the Democratic Party has a "vast favorability advantage" over the GOP among the American public. Overall, 62 percent of U.S. adults who took the January 11-15 survey rated the Democratic Party favorably, compared to 40 percent who held a favorable opinion of the Republican camp. Almost every demographic group reported feeling more favorable toward Dems -- including white evangelic Christians, who were more like to favor the Democratic Party by 2 percentage points. The latest numbers reflect the highest overall favorability rating of either party in 20 years.

Further parsing of the survey data shows that Americans believe historically excluded & ignored constituencies -- including African Americans, the poor, children, women, gays & lesbians, environmentalists, union leaders, and ordinary folks ("people like yourself") -- will gain significantly more political clout under President Obama's administration compared to the last eight years. The biggest losers in the influence department, Americans predict, will be business corporations, conservative Christians, Washington lobbyists, and "the wealthy." (How do you spell, "it's about damn time"?)

Another high note from the Pew study: in January 2009, 70 percent of Americans surveyed approved of the way President Obama explains his policies and plans. Opinion was sharply divided along partisan lines, however, with Democrats (92 percent) and Independent voters (67 percent) giving Obama a higher approval rating than Republicans (44 percent). Over 80 percent of Americans have heard "a lot" (33 percent) or "a little" about President Obama's economic recovery plan, and a majority -- 57 percent -- think the proposal is a good idea.

There's plenty more enlightening fodder for Democratic data geeks in the full report.

Good Stuff: New Website Covers NH Legislation

Any local politico or policy wonk can tell you that the nh.gov website provides an online database of current legislation and a calendar of public hearings (as well as the full text of all NH statutes). But despite multiple search paths and directories, it's not always easy to find exactly what you're looking for or track the progress of specific bills. A new website, Front Door Politics NH, offers an appealing alternative for readers seeking straight-forward reporting on legislative developments, as well as (and this what I really like) user-friendly information about the legislative process and how concerned citizens can get involved. For example, the site includes a glossary of legislative terms and a jargon-free primer on how a bill becomes law in NH, as well as an easy-to-scan spreadsheet of the 2009 LSR (the list of roughly 1,000 bills submitted for consideration in the current legislative session). A print version of the weekly blog will appear in the Portsmouth Wire newspaper; according to the site, weekly podcasts are coming soon. Front Door Politics is a project of independent producer Hilary Niles of Barrington.