Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 18:45:21 EST
From: Jim Warren (jwarren@well.sf.ca.us)
Subject: File 6--Political Organizing at the Individual Level

Once every four years, with less opportunity each two years -- i.e.,
each election year -- citizen-groups have a brief-but-major
window-of-opportunity to obtain government by and for the People.  We
rarely use it effectively.

Civil liberties in the electronic frontier simply cannot wait until
1996.  By then, it may be too late to protect online rights, freedom
and privacy.
We need to act now.
We *can* act.  And we *can* be effective:

1.  Meet with candidates.
Do this in their offices, preferably, as a group of no more than 2-4
articulate, presentable spokespeople.  It helps if you have formal
backing of a group, but it is certainly not necessary.  What is
greatly persuasive to candidates is whether you are likely to sway a
group of voters.

2.  Be informative.
Plan a careful, logical, brief oral presentation of our concerns.
Back it up with a 2-10 page summary of major points, positions and
requests.  Supporting newspaper articles are particularly helpful.

3.  Seek explicit committments.
*Every* successful politician has mastered the art of *sounding*
sincerely interested and supportive without making committments.  Make
specific requests for specific action within a specific time-frame.
Request it in the form of an official policy- or position-statement
issued by the candidate, "so you can then publicize their position
throughout your group."  (Verbal assurances in private meetings are
unreliable.)  If they seem disinclined, politely indicate that you
will, regretfully, have to report that non-action or lack of explicit
commitment must be viewed as non-support, potentially even opposition,
on these time-sensitive issues.  Don't expect somethin' for nothin'.
If they seem inclined to commit --at a minimum, they will sound
sincerely concerned -- they will want to know what support you will
offer.  Expect them to ask for it and/or for your
formal endorsement.  Perhaps the best response to this is to say you
will vigorously circulate details of their committments throughout
your group.

4.  Indicate the group to whom you will report.
Long ago, when I last checked, the WELL had about 4,500 users.  BMUG
has ??  Brian Reid's latest estimates are that USENET had about
1,913,000 users on about 40,000 hosts.  There are probably around 15
million users on non-BBS computer networks in the U.S., public and
private.  The Internet has about 5,000 networks with around a million
hosts and anywhere from 5 to 10 million users.  The Fidonet BBS-net
probably has around 2 million users (I've asked

And, there's your own internal net at work or school.  Can you post
personal notes on it?  Are you a BBS sysop or host administrator with
authority to post a logon notice seen by everyone?  Seems like every user
ought to know who is willing to protect their online freedom and privacy.

  I phrased this in the second person -- "you" do it -- but, jus' for the
record:  I'm personally pursuing this with various federal and state
candidates on the San Francisco Peninsula.  I walk it like I talk it.  :-)

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