17 days and counting...
We're getting down to the wire – as if this fact might have escaped any of us... There are so many ways to get involved – go canvassing with ACT, MoveOn PAC, the Kerry/Edwards and DNC coordinated campaigns, your US Senate, Congress and state legislature candidate; so many canvassing, phone banking and letter-writing options, what's an activist to do?
Tell you what, take a few minutes, get a cup of coffee or tea, perhaps a beer or glass of wine, put your feet up, read through this latest issue of Taking Root, recharge your batteries and then redouble your efforts.
And not to worry, no matter how things turn out on Election Day (though we will definitely have all of our very tired fingers and toes crossed), Grassroots for AmericaSM will still be here cranking out more issues for your grassroots reading pleasure. In fact we've got a brand new section we've added – What's Next – to start getting ready for the day after (unless of course we have a repeat of 2000 and it ends up being ten weeks after) that will be here all too soon (or is it not soon enough...).
As always, subscriptions to Taking Root come spam-free to your email box.
If you like what you see here and would like to lend a hand, please drop us a note at volunteer-at-grassrootsforamerica.us or make a contribution to support all of our grassroots efforts.
| -- The Newsletter Team at Grassroots for America |
Glimpse What’s Inside!
Click on a title to jump to the story below.
NEWS FROM THE ROOTS
Greg Palast Conference Call Condensed!
Editor's note: Our thanks to Liane Allen who participated in a conference call with BBC reporter and author of Bush Family Fortunes, Greg Palast, following a house party viewing of the movie of the same name. Liane recorded the minutes and sent them out to the grassroots almost immediately and provided us with the following summary of information derived from the Q&A as well as some specific questions and answers.
The discussion started out focusing on this year's election. Greg is currently in Florida reporting for the BBC. He says there's a coup d'etat in progress, that the election will be shoplifted again.
Friday's Paul Krugman op-ed column in the NY Times is the 1st of two parts, based on the information that Greg has gathered in Florida for a Harper's article.
The felon purge is still on. Willie Steen, the non-felon in the Bush Family Fortunes, is going to be filmed attempting to vote. He's supposed to be on the voting rolls, but apparently the rolls were never cleaned up after 2000. Palast called Steen's (Republican) county election official. Steen's still on felon list! He can't vote, even though he's never been a felon.
The vast majority of the 93,000 names from 2000 remain purged. The new 47,000 list is not, because it was killed before it could be implemented. For those who want to get off the felon list, Florida is making it very difficult. They're being required to provide fingerprints and jump through other hoops to prove they are who they are.
Greg forced himself to watch an hour of Fox coverage on the plane over here from England (like a Clockwork Orange experience). Watching Fox, he was surprised that Bush is only tied with Kerry. Looking at the coverage, you would think "George Bush was a war hero running against Satan's pansy helper."
The US civil rights commission has started a criminal investigation of Jeb Bush's purported investigation of absentee voting problems that targeted older African Americans. Unfortunately, Ashcroft is in charge of making sure it's completed. That gives you an idea of the chances that anything will happen.
The administration is making it harder to get hold of the kind of inside documents that make documentaries like Bush Family Fortunes possible.
Harpers will publish the Iraq map (dividing up the oil fields among "coalition" members), but it's not scheduled to run until after the election. Next week's issue will include Greg's report on stealing the election in Florida this year.
Question: You reported that Bush suppressed the CIA from investigating A. Q. Kahn of Pakistan, who sold nuclear technologies to bad countries, because funding appeared to originate in Saudi Arabia. Is there more info on that?
In the film, there was a document indicating FBI agents could only investigate two of the bin Laden boys after 9-11. Similarly, the CIA and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) were not allowed to follow the Saudi money trail. Greg asked one agent what specific investigations were killed off as a result of Bush coming into office. The answer was "Kahn Labs."
A. Q. Kahn is the Pakistani "father of the atomic bomb." He is the person who sold Pakistani parts and plans to Libya and North Korea. Because the U.S. investigation (started by Clinton) was quashed by Bush, Kahn was outed by Kaddhafi of Libya – NOT – US intelligence agencies. Kahn's money to start fissionable materials sales came from Saudi Arabia. He didn't just charge it all on his credit card. The newest information regards how the administration is doing its best to cover up the whole thing.
Greg is also worried about the way the administration is propping up Musharaff in Pakistan. He calls the Middle East dictatorships and terror leadership? The Bush Family Frankenstein Factory? They put them in power for personal gain, then have to go take them out later when they start getting too unruly. Greg was (mock) predicting that President Jeb Bush 12 years from now will be saying that Musharaff is a grave threat to the US and needs to be removed.
Question: Is there anything we can do?
If you're a member of a group, get the group to send people to www.gregpalast.com and get people to hold house parties for viewing Bush Family Fortunes.
Vote Early, NOT absentee and DO NOT mail it in; go to the clerk's office and vote in person. Unlike your registration, for which there is a trail of what happened to it, a mailed-in ballot has no trail. If it just gets tossed out, you'll never know. In Florida, the envelopes holding completed ballots are marked Democrat or Republican on the outside. [Note: This means the Democratic ballots can be tossed without ever opening the envelope, and there will be no danger of accidentally tossing republican ballots].
There was an August 31st primary election in Florida. Teresa Lepore (of Palm Beach County 2000 infamy) counted 37,000 votes when there were in fact 31,000 votes. If she had UNDER-COUNTED the votes instead of over-counting, she WOULD NOT have been caught.
Question: What are your plans after you leave Florida?
Go after more bad guys. He wants to interview Ashcroft, if possible. He wants to go to New Mexico and maybe Colorado, which are also poised for massive disenfranchisement. He's convinced that New Mexico is also going to be fixed this year, particularly in the heavy Native American areas.
One thing people don't realize is that Florida in 2000 was TYPICAL. 1.9 million votes that were cast in 2000 were not counted. 1 million of those were cast by African American voters. He referred to it as an apartheid system.
Question: Can you get a declaratory statement in FL to get people back on the rolls?
Yes, but the final rulings will be delayed until after the election. The ACLU and NAACP are suing, but the legal attack is being delayed. The Left loves to depend on legal remedies, but these are open to delay tactics. Better would be LOTS of publicity.
Question: How do we get the word out?
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NEW GROUPS TAKE ROOT
Get Out the Women's Vote (GOTWV)
by Liane Allen, contributing writer
Twenty-two million women – mostly single, and mostly progressive – don't vote. Given the slim margin that allowed Bush to get to the white house, these women could have turned the tide in the 2000 election. As a result, several groups have focused on registering women and are now swinging into Get Out the Vote (GOTV) mode. Notable among them are:
Women's Voices Women Vote
Founded by Page Gardner, an expert in the voting patterns of women voters, and Christina Desser, a veteran of the non-profit world. Their site has great resources designed specifically to mobilize women, based on extensive studies and surveys of non-voting women.
Get Out Her Vote
This brainchild of the Feminist Majority Foundation provides a toolkit for organizing GOTV campaigns targeting women voters, and a tool for connecting with a GOTV team.
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Sunshine and Alligators
By Lauren Shanon, Democrats Abroad Japan Vice Chair, DFA Tokyo Founder
A small group of hardy souls are headed from Japan and the UK to help protect and Get out the Vote in Florida in the weeks leading up to the election. We are the Sunshine and Alligators intent on bringing light to the election proceedings and putting the bite back in democracy! But we need help.
We are trying to raise funds for logistics and supplies including rental vans to help get voters to the polls, cell phones to coordinate our efforts and other necessary on the ground supplies. If you can help us please go to our site at www.sunshineandgators.com and give us a hand! Also feel free to join our group down in Florida if you have time to spare during the last two weeks of October and through to Victory on 11/2!
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GET INVOLVED
Help Florida Vote
Last week, Jimmy Carter said that "basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." With partisanship rearing it's ugly head once again in Florida, thousands of minority voters are again being unfairly kicked off the voter rolls. That's why LFA is going to Florida!
Latinos for America is launching the LFA Florida Voter Project – an innovative air and ground approach to educate and encourage participation among minority voters. And we need your help!
...On the Air
Latinos for America has produced three public service announcements in collaboration with One Vote Radio. Listen:
- 22 Million Single Women (English)
- Democracy 101 (English)
- 22 Million Single Women (Spanish)
LFA is placing these ads in over 400 radio stations nationwide, including 205 stations specifically chosen to impact the Hispanic vote.
We need your help.
We would like to get these PSA's up on as many radio stations as possible. If you know of any radio stations in Florida – or across the nation – that you think would benefit from these PSAs, contact us!
Send us an email and recommend a radio station at info@latinosforamerica.com – we will get the ads on the air!
...On the Ground
Latinos for America is partnering with America Votes – a national coalition of 33 of the largest progressive organizations in the country – to train volunteers and organizers in Florida. This week, we will co-host trainings in Orlando, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale.
- Orlando: Thursday, October 14 – 9 AM - 12 PM
- Tampa: Friday, October 15 – 6 PM - 9 PM
- Ft. Lauderdale: Saturday, October 16 – 5 PM - 8 PM
These trainings will give you the skills you need to protect and get out the all important Florida vote.
- Train staff and lead volunteers to manage Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) programs for Election Day and Early Voting
- Learn the nuts and bolts of how to run an effective GOTV program
- Provide tools and resources to help organizers build and run their GOTV programs.
To RSVP for one of these trainings, send an email to Nathan Gonzalez at nathan@latinosforamerica.com. Thank you for your continued commitment to progress!
Your LFA Team
Ralph Miller, Executive Director
Nathan Gonzalez, Political Director
Matthew Alvarez McMillan, Finance Director
Steven Gibson, Grassroots Ops Director
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Election Protection
ElectionProtectionVolunteer.org needs volunteers from all walks of life, especially need lawyers, law students, clergy and Spanish-speakers to get trained to and spend Election Day protecting the vote in key precincts across the country.
ElectionProtectionVolunteer.org was created by Working Assets to support the work of People for the American Way Foundation and the nonpartisan 2004 Election Protection coalition, including Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and NAACP National Voter Fund.
For a complete list of coalition partners, click here.
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Votewatch
Votewatch, a non-profit, non-partisan election monitoring organization, is recruiting citizen volunteers to act as “Closing Voters” to provide data for the first-ever monitoring of raw vote counts produced by electronic voting machines at precincts across the country. Data collected by Votewatch volunteers will then be compared with unofficial centralized vote counts produced at the county level on election night.
In order for the comparison of precinct-generated totals and centrally-tabulated totals to be valid, it's necessary to collect precinct totals from ALL of the precincts in a county. Thus, Votewatch is also looking for individuals who can mobilize volunteers to cover every precinct in a county.
To learn more about this campaign, please click here.
For a snapshot view of how volunteers will conduct this process go to http://cv.votewatch.us/how-it-works.asp
To participate in this effort, please register with Votewatch at http://votewatch.us/createMember.
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CANDIDATES
GOTV Crucial in Romero Campaign
By Will Thomasson, contributing writer
Richard Romero
New Mexico 1st Congressional District
www.richardromeroforcongress.com
“We need people to stuff envelopes, make phone calls, and walk door-to-door,” candidate Richard Romero (NM – 1st) told supporters after an Albuquerque Journal poll showed him trailing incumbent Heather Wilson by a single point. And that need will continue through election day, as shown by the prominence with which Romero’s Web site links to Democratic Party information on how to register and where to vote – including how to vote absentee.
The Romero-Wilson race is not the low-key contest many Taking Root readers are accustomed to. Romero’s home page pictures him and his wife standing with Kerry and Edwards. Big money, too: he had raised more than a million dollars by the end of July, while Wilson had roughly twice that. But whereas Wilson got more than 40% of her contributions from PACs, Romero got 80% of his from 5,740 individual donors, with his fundraising efforts being spurred by endorsements from MoveOn.org and Democracy for America. In addition, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is aggressively targeting this race. Wilson has similarly drawn support from Republican heavy hitters, with many attributing her 55-45% victory over Romero in 2002 to ads by the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.
Romero grew up in New Mexico, where he became a high school history and science teacher and administrator; his career included three years as principal of the “School on Wheels” for at-risk students. He was elected to the New Mexico State Senate in 1992 and currently serves as its president pro tem.
Romero has depicted Wilson as a rubber-stamp Congressperson who votes with the Bush administration 94% of the time. Interestingly, she has responded by emphasizing the few times she has broken with her party in favor of increased educational funding and opposition to further tax cuts in the face of a budget deficit.
Romero himself focuses strongly on educational funding and on better pay and benefits for military personnel and veterans (noting his Vietnam-era active-duty service in the air force). His Web site also says, “Protecting our land and water is a top priority,” citing his work in the State Senate to protect Oro Mesa from drilling. And it adds, “We must protect our jobs from overseas outsourcing and we need to attract new business to our state. We need fair trade, not free trade. ... I am proud to be a Democrat, endorsed by labor organizations – who is also pro-business.”
Under his State Senate leadership, New Mexico has cut its income tax to the lowest in the five-state region and has eliminated the gross tax on food and medicine.
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INSPIRATION POINT
Democrat is not a Four Letter Word
By Bert Caradine, contributing writer
Like every Democrat manning the front lines of political debate these days, I know I have the truth on my side. And, only time our Republican adversaries cite the Constitution, it is to utilize the Second Amendment in opposing all sensible gun control measures. When the Right again rants on about "Liberal Activist judges," you can be assured that they will not acknowledge the judicial precedent and/or constitutional provision that decision was based on.
There is a very ironic reason you rarely see Rush Limbaugh on any TV talk shows or political interview programs like Meet The Press. His conditions for appearing are strictly arranged to avoid any direct, uncensored questioning. In fact, leading Conservative pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity seldom venture outside their safe Fox News Channel cocoon, for fear of being confronted with numerous documented evidence of their deceit.
It is within this context of the Conservative movement, where acts of racism, intolerance and religious bigotry can be committed, then disingenuously denounced – all in the name of winning, at any cost.
Such is the case in the revelation of Republican National Committee distributed material in West Virginia and Arkansas, warning that if elected "Liberals were planning to ban the Bible." Then there is James L. Hart, a 3-time candidate, avowed racist and now the Republican Congressional nominee for the seat in the 18th District of Tennessee.
Most appalling for me was debating Republicans on these two subject matter, who showed no outrage, nor anger towards their party. With ample evidence supplied that the GOP was well aware of Mr. Hart’s hateful ideology, all that was left for my rival was to declare "…well, I’m not a racist!"
Makes me glad to be a Democrat. How about you?
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GRASSROOTS OP-ED
A MESSAGE FOR DEMOCRATS IN NON-SWING STATES
by Harriet from Massachusetts
Recently I saw a Letter to the Editor from a Texas Democrat complaining that her vote will not count, since Texas’s electoral votes will surely go to Bush.
She is wrong. Her vote is extremely important. Of course Kerry needs a majority of the electoral votes to become president. But he also needs A SOLID MAJORITY OF THE NATIONWIDE POPULAR VOTE to be considered the legitimate winner by all Americans. So please, Democrats in definitely-Kerry and definitely-Bush states, PUSH FOR VOTER TURNOUT IN YOUR OWN STATE.
The Kerry/Edwards campaign is pouring enormous amounts of money, energy, and volunteers into the so-called swing or battleground states – as they should. However, suppose Kerry squeaks through in the Electoral College BUT LOSES THE POPULAR VOTE because many Democrats in non-battleground states don’t bother to vote, assuming – like that woman in Texas – that their votes aren’t important. Do you think for a minute that the Republicans would accept Kerry as fully legitimate? Think again. They would make it impossible for him to govern.
On the other hand, suppose there is a big struggle – as there was in Florida in 2000 – over the outcome in a few of the battleground states. IF KERRY BEATS BUSH BY OVER A MILLION VOTES NATIONWIDE, that majority in the popular vote would give the Democrats a great psychological edge – and hopefully a significant judicial edge – in winning the struggle for crucial electoral votes in the days right after the election.
No matter what the scenario on Election Day, a healthy Kerry majority in the popular vote is important in legitimating a Kerry victory. And a strong Kerry/Edwards campaign in EVERY state will help Democratic candidates who are in close races for House and Senate seats. If those candidates win, they will provide great support for Kerry’s legislative agenda. Victory in the Electoral College is NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT for a successful Kerry presidency.
So let’s get out there, fellow Democrats in New York, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and other definitely-Kerry states, and produce HUGE MAJORITIES for Kerry which will contribute to the national total popular vote. And let’s get out there, fellow Democrats in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and other definitely-Bush states, to produce AS MANY VOTES AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN toward that big national number. We are all part of the same massive effort to take our country back.
I’m not suggesting re-directing resources from the swing states. But there are thousands of committed Democrats who can’t go in busloads to campaign in those states. Many would be eager to canvass in their own neighborhoods. They just need to realize that NO VOTE IS WASTED.
Please explain the importance of the popular vote to friends and neighbors, spread the word through Letters to the Editor. Print out an adapted version of this letter to use as a handout, and/or cut-and-paste this letter into your own e-mail to contacts in non-swing states. LET’S GO ALL-OUT FOR VICTORY ON NOVEMBER 2.
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SITE SEEING
Films To See Before You Vote
Films To See Before You Vote highlights the best new political films, harnessing their power to inform, inspire and organize voters before Election Day.
The site enables citizens to “watch movies-make a difference” by organizing screening parties around provocative movies. FTSBYV has teamed up with the organizers of the successful Imagine Festival (of New York) to present pre-election Films To See Before You Vote Tours in Florida and Ohio, where films will be shown in cafes, community centers, libraries and senior centers, as well as theaters.
FTSBYV is also launching a national campus initiative to bring timely films to colleges and universities across the country. Through bulletins and updates, FTSBYV keeps subscribers informed of the latest developments in theaters, on video, and on television. Aiming to impact the upcoming elections, FTSBYV promotes the use of political films and innovative distribution techniques to catalyze action before November 2nd.
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Operation Truth
Help Iraq war vets get their hard-hitting TV spot on the air – go to http://www.optruth.org/, view the ad and if it moves you, contribute.
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Beyond Voting
http://beyondvoting.org/ – the name pretty much says it all.
From the home page: "Because the crisis of our democracy did not start with Bush and won't end with Kerry, the Beyond Voting campaign is supporting nationwide direct democracy events around the November elections and beyond." Check it out.
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Flyers Galore
Going canvassing? Going to see "Going Upriver"? Need a flyer or two? check out http://www.bigpath.net/politics/Home/home.html for all your flyering needs.
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THE TOOL SHED
Big Path.Net Offers Power Flyers (Free to Download!)
This election is about the heart, soul and future of our states and our county. Big Path.Net has some professionally designed and copy-written flyers free to download and pass out to your targeted voters. These flyers have powerful statements and images that you simply must see to appreciate. Go to http://www.bigpath.net/politics/Home for great flyers for canvassing, posting, etc.
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Videos for Democracy to Help Tip the Undecided Vote
In the waning days of the Democratic Primary, DVDs became a powerful tool for persuasion and GOTV. Eric Predoehl co-founder of the former DeanMediaTeam, creator of DVDs For Dean has developed a number of DVDs aimed at undecided voters to help swing support for progressive candidates. Earlier this year, Predoehl discovered there were no pro-Kerry DVDs available to burn for free distribution so he decided to fill the gap. “I wound up shooting some footage of John Kerry in San Jose, which led to the creation of my ‘Kerry Comes Alive!’ DVD./p>
Predoehl has also unearthed a several other DVDs that GOTV managers can easily download from the web and use for house parties and tabling events: http://www.kerrydvd.com/ and http://dave.typepad.com/lefty/. He has developed a convenient one-stop-shop for these resources by providing clips from a number of the films for preview and download. Some are tongue-in-cheek such as “Bushisms” produced by Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth.
In addition, Predoehl provides some DVDs of the DNC Convention, which fits 8 hours on two discs. For more information on these discs, go to: http://www.thefirsttuesday.org/dvd-trade/dvds.html.
“If you need any DVDs to help nudge some undecided types towards voting against Bush, I've got some resources that I'm ready to share,” says Predoehl. “If anyone wants to obtain any of my DVDs, and duplicate multiple copies for outreach purposes, you have my blessings!”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out Predoehl’s blog http://ep-rants.blogspot.com/
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WHAT'S NEXT
Advancing the Progressive Movement Beyond the Election
Dean Post Mortem Offers Primer on Progressive Grassroots Organizing
By Dana Dunnan, guest writer
"Burning at the Grassroots: Inside the Dean Machine" provides detailed analysis of the lessons of Howard Dean's presidential run and the 2004 election. A detailed description of the book is available at www.burningatthegrassroots.com, including a list of interviewees, chapter summaries, a sample chapter on John Kerry, book tour info and radio and TV appearances by the author. The book can be purchased by credit card, signed by the author, through the Web site or ordered through any bookstore that does not have it currently in stock.
Readers, reviewers, Democrats, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh fans, and figures in the Dean campaign have described the book as "a primer for anyone delving into politics," "a fantastic read," "humorous," "extensively researched," and "a book unlike any other."
The book combines Dean biography and campaign history, political history, cultural commentary, and expert analysis from media, politicians, political scientists, historians, with the first person experience of grassroots activists in the Dean campaign, including the author himself.
From the opening words, “Lincoln must come again” through 388 pages, 266 footnotes, 25 figures and graphs, and 14 photos, the book offers lessons for the progressive movement, so Americans can take their country back again.
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Grassroots Calendar
Oct 17 | Austin, TX – Latinos for America GOTV Training. |
Oct 18 | Los Angeles, CA – Progressive Democrats of America All Star Fundraiser 08:00pm |
Oct 20 | Bethel Cinema, Bethel, CT – Grassroots Theatre Network™, 7:00 PM double feature, 6:15 PM reception - Hijacking Catastrophe and Bush's Brain - send a blank e-mail to theatretickets-at-grassrootsforamerica.us for ticket information. |
Oct 20 | Lark Theatre, Larkspur, CA – Grassroots Theatre Network™, 7:00 PM screening, 6:15 PM reception Hijacking Catastrophe followed by a discussion with Jim Garrison, President, State of the World Forum / Author, America As Empire - send a blank e-mail to theatretickets-at-grassrootsforamerica.us for ticket information. |
Oct 21 | Tampa, FL – Latinos for America GOTV Training. |
Oct 22 | Orlando, FL – Latinos for America GOTV Training. |
Oct 23 | Palm Beach, FL – Latinos for America GOTV Training. |
Oct 24 | Miami, FL – Latinos for America GOTV Training. |
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About Our Newsletter
Editorial Team
Editor-In-Chief: Kimberly Krautter
Managing Editor: Pam Paul
Contributing Writers: Liane Allen, Bert Caradine, Max Gordon, Nicole Johns, Will Thomasson
Send Letters to the Editor to: editor-at-grassrootsforamerica.us
Send content submissions to: news-at-grassrootsforamerica.us
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VISIT OUR WEB SITE
Grassroots for America is a resource for progressive grassroots organizations across the nation, connecting groups and providing services, infrastructure and consulting to:
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