Why is there no mass mobilization on the right?
It's infuriating. The message on my phone reads as follows:
Hi Derk. This is Laurie volunteering with MoveOn. Last week, Trump announced he's terminating the DACA program – putting 800,000 young people at risk of deportation to countries they do not know. We can't allow Trump to break up immigrant families. Will you call your representative now at (123-456-7890) and demand they protect Dreamers by co-sponsoring a clean Dream Act ASAP? Tell them there should be no new money for wasteful walls or brutal enforcement. After calling, text back and tell us how your call went!
The weird thing is, I'm in New York, and the number given was to Arizona's Senator Flake's office, and he's clearly not "my representative." The volunteer named "Laurie" texted from a number local to me.
The larger question is, where are the conservative organizations doing what MoveOn.org and Organizing for America are doing? You can throw some names at me...but none has the recognition of the organizations I've mentioned.
For years now, people have been asking questions like, "Why isn't there a Republican equivalent of Care2 and Change.org?"
Indeed, where did the outspoken, bold, fed up Americans go who were opposed to the liberals, progressives, Marxists, muddled snowflakes, and anarchists who wanted to overthrow the Republic? They were vocal in the 2016 presidential campaign. Did they think they just needed to vote Trump and walk away, go back to their jobs, believing they'd saved the country? Do they really believe that a hashtag campaign and few funny memes are all that's needed now?
"Massive mobilization" is an everyday thing for liberals. For conservatives, it is a thing apart. We have not yet figured out how to stop the massive amounts of money being poured into these liberal organizations, nor have we planned ahead well enough even to send out one text message saying, "Call your representative and tell him you support President Trump terminating the DACA program! Then text us back and tell us how it went!" The Democrats are then taking such data and storing it; analyzing it; and using it to recruit, predict, and influence future soldiers of liberalism. We've got...nothing.
The lack of organization on the right continues to be a huge problem. While we complain about the chaos in Washington D.C., we don't even realize that we're dropping the ball out here by not forming cohesive groups that are "organizing for action" with both long- and short-term goals. Conservatives are more apt to start screaming on a case-by-case basis, without planning for the future. Volunteer Laurie and intended recipient Derk seem to know that they are in an ongoing, everyday battle for the soul of the country. Their ranks are growing larger and larger, not just through the bigger, nationally known groups, but also through smaller ones in cities across America – like the Chicago Socialists who "unite to fight right-wing terror."
If anyone has any ideas how to counteract these massive organizations and their massive funding...rent a conference room and a projector. Maybe we can brainstorm once a month.
Susan D. Harris can be reached at www.susandharris.com.