If fed representatives won't listen, maybe state reps will.
Twenty states have either passed or are considering some form of resolution that opposes troop escalation in Iraq or calls for outright withdrawal of U.S. forces. New York is one of the states currently considering a resolution.
What has motivated these legislatures to weigh in on an issue they have no direct control over? This particular campaign was spearheaded by the Progressive States Network and is an example of the digital media's grassroots 50 state focus. The strategy is widely attributed with the success of the Democrats in the most recent elections and, as a recent article from the Christian Science Monitor suggests, is now poised to overturn the Bush administration's war policy:
The current push at the state level was spurred largely by a mid-January initiative by liberal advocacy groups, including the Progressive States Network and MoveOn.org, with support from US Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts. Launched as Congress wrangled over whether to debate Mr. Bush's new Iraq strategy, the online campaign urged war critics to bombard their local as well as national elected representatives with calls for action.
"The Internet is making the 50-state campaigns easier and cheaper," says Christopher Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. "This has led to an increasing nationalization of state politics."
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"State legislatures are the representative bodies that are closest to the people, and they have been hearing from constituents who are frustrated with the war," says Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, in an e-mail. "As more state legislatures take up resolutions on Iraq, it will add to the mounting pressure for the president and Congress to change strategies."
Votes and debates in state legislatures break along party lines, with Republicans saying lawmakers should not waste energy on actions that carry little weight. They also contend that these types of resolutions send the wrong message to US troops. But their clout has waned since last fall's elections, when the GOP lost majorities in five state legislatures. They now control 15 legislatures to the Democrats' 23.
While the politics remain contentious, the technological take-away is simpler: Online activism is pushing national issues to the states.
"The Internet helps decentralize political activism," says John Horrigan of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "You no longer have to organize a protest in Washington, D.C." to get your point across.
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The growth in Internet-based grass-roots groups doesn't mean more activists are out there, but it does mean people have found a faster way to reach large number of supporters, Mr. Horrigan says. So far, liberal Democrats have the edge. A Pew study has shown them to be the most likely online activists. "At least [for] now, the Internet is a space where Democrats are slightly busier with online tools," he adds.
In the case of the Iraq resolutions in the states, activism helped give a national debate some local flavor, Mr. Barkin says. The aim remains to make Washington pay attention, but the means of doing so are changing.
"You put in 500 calls to a [legislator in Washington] and you will send a message," says Barkin. "But you put 500 calls to a state legislator and it shakes the whole building."
Do state legislators have a leg to stand on in demanding the Feds take notice? When one looks at the costs to the states and local communities the answer is yes. According to the National Priorities Project, the war in Iraq has cost Monroe County $1,600,000,000 - yes that is billion. This same organization estimates the war has cost New Yorkers $33.9 billion as of September of 2006.
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