Idaho Progressive Alignment (IPA)

A blog for widely sharing stories, methods, inspiration, and confidence

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I’ve spent the last year thinking about ways to politically transform Idaho.

When I look at how our state decides how society should work, I see a scale symbolizing a balance of power. On one side is money, and on the other side are people. Money is winning. It’s not even close.

If we want more people power, we need to shift political identities.

In today’s world, it’s basically a given that Democrats and Independents align more with people power than Republicans. But Republicans are holding 80% of the seats in our Legislature.

The people are voting Republican. Based on their identities, not their interests.

Most Idahoans are poor and struggling financially. When they vote Republican, for their promises of limited government, they’re not doing themselves any favors. They’re telling the government to spend less and tax less, but when that happens, it’s their services that are being cut and the wealthy that are seeing the tax benefits. We have historic levels of income inequality, and you can tie that directly to our politics.

Changing identities is extremely difficult. Face-to-face is our best hope.

In a world where news is fragmented, and everyone has different, contradicting facts, you don’t change people’s minds through the news. You change minds from face-to-face conversations, and the closer proximity to people they trust, the more they listen.

But few know how to do that.

There are only a handful of people in our state that are experts in running field programs. This is our best chance for changing Idaho politics, but hardly anyone understands the methods. We should share our playbooks, but how?

Idaho progressives are networked. But it’s very loose.

Personally, I’ve been really surprised by how few progressive leaders know each other well (or at all) in Boise. People are doing incredible work, but in silos, with little or no support from centralized institutions. This is a problem. It holds us back.

We need a better way to transfer information beyond our silos.

There needs to be a channel for sharing ideas and methods that transcends issues, organizations, campaigns, and even party. We need to share our victories so all people power efforts in Idaho are strengthened.

I envision a blog with fresh, diverse perspectives from across our state.

We’ll seek out the practitioners, thinkers, critics, and visionaries working on people power. We’ll help them share their stories, methods, and advice to encourage, empower, and inspire.

Beyond sharing knowledge, it’s about sharing confidence.

It’s not easy being a progressive in Idaho. We’ve had many more failures than we’ve had victories. Hope and optimism often feel in short supply. To lift our spirits, we need to know what’s working, and we need to copy it.

We can win. But only if we work together, with the best strategies.

Let’s do that. Sign up here.

Example Posts

Each idea below comes from a relationship I have with an Idaho progressive leader. I know people that can speak authoritatively about each of these subjects.

• Field is the future.
• Boise is more racist than it realizes.
• Add The Words, in retrospect.
• The Inside Game: What it’s like inside Idaho’s Legislature.
• The real reason we don’t have public transit.
• What I hate about progressives.
• I worked my ass off for Bernie. Now what?
• Make people think. Use political satire.
• The Idaho Democratic Party needs to be transformed.
• Social Justice. The point of church.
• Idaho needs a progressive zine.
• Why political stunt people, like me, make a difference.
• American Redoubt: what my Boise friends don’t understand.
• Press for Change: How to work with the media to tell your story.
• From Anarchism to Liberalism: a personal journey.
• How to take on, and beat, establishment candidates.
• Lessons from 10 years of organizing for climate justice.
• Post Persuasion Politics. Tell me me your position on one thing. Now I know everything about you.
• What a clean energy future looks like in Idaho.
• How to fundraise, big time.
• What you need to know about polling.
• How to start, sustain, and win a ballot initiative.
• Images and stories that will change your mind.
• Idaho’s college radicals.
• When I’m not doing high school, I’m building the Sunrise Movement.
• Blue girl, red state. Nationally, no one is telling our stories.
• What progressive means in Twin Falls.
• You’re doing social media wrong.
• Confronting race in Boise’s City Council.
• You need a lawyer. Why legal council is essential.
• Idaho needs a mass movement to change the political weather.