The ostensible difference between Astroturf and a real grass-roots movement is who is driving it.
The REAL difference, the ONLY difference that counts to people in power, is whether or not the movement will affect votes.
It does not even need to cause an outright defeat. If it makes a visible difference in votes, it becomes significant.
Unless we have some closet billionaires in the vaping community, the only way to influence votes is to talk to, and work for, political candidates or parties.
I don't know if Europe, like the U.S., has a dearth of elections in odd-numbered years, but I know that we don't seem to have scared anybody yet in any large constituency. Nor have we done a sufficient job of alerting people that there are lawyers speaking in the name of medical organizations as if they were doctors.
When you're deciding how to use vacation days, save some for boots-on-the-ground door-to-door campaigning, envelope-stuffing, tacking up or delivering lawn signs or window signs, or whatever forms campaigning takes. There are a lot of swing voters who decide by mainstream media ONLY because they're not hearing from anybody closer to home. That is how we can reduce, even if only slightly, the impact of BP and BT campaign money.
ALSO get NON-SMOKING, non-vaping, relatives to write snail mail letters to MP's pointing out that they would not have supported you in this if it was about smoke inhalation.
This weekend I'm going to a political party meeting, in Berkeley, CA, of a party that, at this time, fits into a pub. But we'll see.
The REAL difference, the ONLY difference that counts to people in power, is whether or not the movement will affect votes.
It does not even need to cause an outright defeat. If it makes a visible difference in votes, it becomes significant.
Unless we have some closet billionaires in the vaping community, the only way to influence votes is to talk to, and work for, political candidates or parties.
I don't know if Europe, like the U.S., has a dearth of elections in odd-numbered years, but I know that we don't seem to have scared anybody yet in any large constituency. Nor have we done a sufficient job of alerting people that there are lawyers speaking in the name of medical organizations as if they were doctors.
When you're deciding how to use vacation days, save some for boots-on-the-ground door-to-door campaigning, envelope-stuffing, tacking up or delivering lawn signs or window signs, or whatever forms campaigning takes. There are a lot of swing voters who decide by mainstream media ONLY because they're not hearing from anybody closer to home. That is how we can reduce, even if only slightly, the impact of BP and BT campaign money.
ALSO get NON-SMOKING, non-vaping, relatives to write snail mail letters to MP's pointing out that they would not have supported you in this if it was about smoke inhalation.
This weekend I'm going to a political party meeting, in Berkeley, CA, of a party that, at this time, fits into a pub. But we'll see.
Last edited:
