I think you might be mixing up the purpose of national or state organizations, like the Human Rights Campaign, and these smaller and more focused right-wing PACs and organizations that pop up for awhile and go away.
HRC and some of the other groups you mention really work more like the Heritage Foundation - they're big efforts with certai…
I think you might be mixing up the purpose of national or state organizations, like the Human Rights Campaign, and these smaller and more focused right-wing PACs and organizations that pop up for awhile and go away.
HRC and some of the other groups you mention really work more like the Heritage Foundation - they're big efforts with certain goals that do lobbying and work directly with lawmakers. Their public efforts are more general and broad-based.
The right has perfected the art of these special purpose PACs that pop up, do a bunch of advertising, then fade away. Often you see them around election time, but they're also active between election cycles, shaping public opinion about very specific issues.
The problem isn't that Democratic organizations are "top down", it's that there isn't anyone on the left organizing and managing PACs to do this kind of short-term messaging about pieces of legislation or the actions of the Republicans and their leadership, saying things that the longer-term and larger organizations might not be willing or able to say at a particular time.
My granddaughter is comms specialist for Emily's List and I'm amazed at how effectively they are managed. They're a one issue PAC and they're staffed at a level that is amazingly fluid and reactive. They are also not equipped to expose Republicans other than political opponents to their recruited candidates.
I think you might be mixing up the purpose of national or state organizations, like the Human Rights Campaign, and these smaller and more focused right-wing PACs and organizations that pop up for awhile and go away.
HRC and some of the other groups you mention really work more like the Heritage Foundation - they're big efforts with certain goals that do lobbying and work directly with lawmakers. Their public efforts are more general and broad-based.
The right has perfected the art of these special purpose PACs that pop up, do a bunch of advertising, then fade away. Often you see them around election time, but they're also active between election cycles, shaping public opinion about very specific issues.
The problem isn't that Democratic organizations are "top down", it's that there isn't anyone on the left organizing and managing PACs to do this kind of short-term messaging about pieces of legislation or the actions of the Republicans and their leadership, saying things that the longer-term and larger organizations might not be willing or able to say at a particular time.
My granddaughter is comms specialist for Emily's List and I'm amazed at how effectively they are managed. They're a one issue PAC and they're staffed at a level that is amazingly fluid and reactive. They are also not equipped to expose Republicans other than political opponents to their recruited candidates.