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Going where the fight is

At PowerPAC's political briefing Wednesday, we unveiled the results of our research project that surveyed and studied California's political landscape in order to identify the most strategic areas to target for mobilization of voters of color.

It's a big state, and there is much work to be done. A key mission of PowerPAC in general is to fill in the gaps that exist in the political landscape -- for example, most of the voter mobilization done in the state is non-partisan, so ours will have a partisan focus. The same is true when it comes to targeting our efforts. PowerPAC has spent the last year building alliances, bringing together allied groups and providing resources to the grass-roots in San Bernardino, one of California's "red" counties, and a place the Republicans consider their base.

This year, we will undertake a similar approach in Orange County -- a place famous for its conservative leanings. Yet both San Bernardino and Orange County, when you look at them in a deeper way, provide clear opportunities for progressive organizing, particularly in fast-growing communities of color. And because these places have not had the level of organizing that has occured in more Democratic strongholds like Los Angeles or San Francisco, progressive victories can be won by relatively small margins.

Thankfully, this approach is starting to catch on in Howard Dean's Democratic Party.

These areas are clearly where battle lines are being drawn, as evidenced by the attempt in the city of San Bernardino by anti-immigrant activists to pass a local ordinance that would deny immigrants basic rights like rental housing. If we're not there, how will we fight?

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