tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281789906349841218.post1008479736343963463..comments2023-10-22T12:01:32.633-04:00Comments on The Lurking Canary: :: Girl PowerBuffyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901971975109018287noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281789906349841218.post-44678309145042216962007-12-24T13:01:00.000-05:002007-12-24T13:01:00.000-05:00Oh, my. Way to throw me a softball!I think every ...Oh, my. Way to throw me a softball!<BR/><BR/>I think every c3 should be encouraging their clients to vote and providing voter education material relevant to the service they provide. This is a democracy, and we're all in it together. Everyone should be doing their bit. But most C3s feel too intimidated - directly or indirectly - to do this kind of work. The combination of threatened/actual political retribution, hyper-cautious lawyers and oh-so-helpful groups like Common Cause saying "special interests" should be silent during elections combine to keep these groups politically disempowered. <BR/><BR/>I would imagine that large homeless shelters could try to negotiate deals on the local or state level to register their clients at the shelter's address and shuttle them to a particular polling place. Combine that with basic voter education about, say, the minimum wage. But of course Republicans would cry bloody murder, because the less poor people know about what they are up to the better. And the public is primed to think this kind of organizing is corrupt, so the shelter would catch a lot of flak that could very well endanger their ability to provide services.<BR/><BR/>Having a c4 might insulate you a bit, or might make you (or your lawyers) feel more secure... maybe it would give you more actual leeway- I'd have to check- but on the other hand it could be logistically complicated - there would be accounting issues in terms of cost-sharing for use of the same facilities, equipment, staff - it might differ on a case-by-case basis. I'll defer to your mom's judgement.<BR/><BR/>But either way, most charities feel that the risk to their program isn't worth the potential benefit. The intimidation works. <BR/><BR/>Regarding the voting gap - all I'm saying is: <BR/><BR/>I can guess how reporters get the idea that they should run stories on why women don't vote; <BR/><BR/>I understand that they are often too dopey too realize that just because some women don't vote it doesn't mean women as a whole vote less than men; <BR/><BR/>I know the MSM still hasn't caught on that there are more women than men voting - print and television pundits are still overwhelmingly male and often dwell on issues related only to their own failed masculinity (Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson); <BR/><BR/>god forbid the MSM catches on, because instead of Matthews and Tucker we'll have Katie and Meredith and Robin doing our political analysis, or we'll have the rise of the "sexy pundit" ala Ann Coulter, and who the hell wants that; and, last but not least,<BR/><BR/>I will keep posting every story about the (real) gender gap that I come across, because it makes me feel happy inside.Nina Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07411919366541020475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281789906349841218.post-59695795101537456852007-12-23T22:31:00.000-05:002007-12-23T22:31:00.000-05:00ciccina, I'm confused. Are you saying that every ...ciccina, I'm confused. Are you saying that every c(3) we know should start a c(4) to get their target audience to vote? Are you saying that the gender gap in voting is a myth, but we shouldn't tell anyone? My mom says every c(3) should start a c(4) -- is it so hard? If not, why doesn't everyone just start one to have in case they suddenly feel it necessary to get our nice homeless clients to vote?Kirstenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09332550775893618503noreply@blogger.com