Mediaboss Marketing

Susan Campodonico hadnt been out on the street protesting since the Vietnam War. But there she was, standing in front of the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on a Tuesday afternoon, holding a neon green sign that read: Honk for single payer NOW!

She credits her presence to Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. Modeled on the success of the conservative Tea Party, the 24-page step-by-step activist playbook has exploded since it went online three months ago. Its been downloaded almost 2 million times since then by people who want to interrogate Republicans like Rep. Tom McClintock at a town hall in Mariposa or goad Democrats like Sen. Dianne Feinstein into attending one in Oakland.

What started out as some congressional staffers sharing organizing tips has mushroomed into an organization that has inspired small, autonomous groups across the nation. Not surprisingly, many of the 5,802 Indivisible-inspired groups have emerged in the predominantly liberal Bay Area 200 across six congressional districts.

And if the guide and the groups manage to keep progressives plugged into politics between presidential campaigns, Democrats could perform better in the 2018 midterm elections, contests where that party typically underperforms.

Indivisibles premise is simple: Members of Congress dont do anything unless their constituents hold them accountable, either by showing up en masse at district meetings armed with pointed questions (and video cameras to record the confrontation), or by overwhelming their offices with phone calls. Thats just what the newly born Tea Party did to Democrats after President Barack Obama took office in 2009, helping to flip the House back to the GOP in 2010.

Margaret Hasselman during weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible.

Margaret Hasselman during weekly protest by grassroots organization...

So the guide, written by former congressional staffers, explains in plain, activism-for-dummies language how to make those representatives listen. It details everything from how to form a group of like-minded resisters to where to sit when protesting at a town hall meeting. (Sit by yourself or in groups of two, and spread out throughout the room. This will help reinforce the impression of broad consensus.)

That kind of granular direction has been a godsend to new activists like Campodonico, a 68-year-old Piedmont occupational therapist who was struggling with how to express her anxiety over President Trumps election.

Indivisible has told me what to say, how to say it and where to say it, Campodonico said, as cars passing the Grand Lake blared their horns in support.

While the guide is focused on Congress, its designed so each group can decide what actions its members want to take. The two dozen people Campodonico joined have gone to town hall meetings together and started a book club.

On this day, she joined 50 others in what has become a weekly hour-long sign-waving protest in front of the Oakland theater whose marquee often sports a progressive political message. Many of the demonstrators, holding hand-made placards with messages both snarky (Go Fact Yourself) and serious (No ban! No wall! No bigotry!), said hearing those honks from passing motorists makes them feel like theyre not alone in their apprehension about the new administration.

Indivisible is just one of the political startups working to channel that liberal anxiety in the current political landscape. Others, like Sister District Project, Flippable, Swing Left and the Resurgent Left, are focused on showing progressives how to campaign in red Congressional districts or state races where their help and cash will be needed.

But Indivisible stands out not only in its intent but also because it is proactive, it is sustained and its growing, said Doug McAdam, author of Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America.

Its power lies in how its groups are being formed locally, not by some far-away, top-down organization. Historically, thats how most enduring movements are formed, McAdam said, whether it is for civil rights or the Tea Party.

Looking back, we think of the Civil Rights movement as one cohesive thing, said McAdam, a professor of sociology at Stanford University. Not really. It was a coalition of countless local groups all acting under the name of civil rights. It was not a single entity.

But it was the Tea Party specifically, the way it went after vulnerable Democratic House members in the 2010 midterm elections that inspired Ezra Levin, 31, a former staffer for Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and his Indivisible co-founders. He recalled how Tea Party activists flooded the office with calls.

To understand what its like when the phones are ringing off the hook, that means everybody, and I mean everybody even the chief of staff is answering the phones, said Levin, who was a policy analyst for an antipoverty nonprofit in Washington before recently becoming Indivisibles executive director. It was quite time consuming and disruptive. ... It puts the entire party on edge.

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Jane Vinson joins a protest by members of an Indivisible group on Grand Avenue in Oakland last week.

Jane Vinson joins a protest by members of an Indivisible group on Grand Avenue in Oakland last week.

Manuela Sanchez of Berkeley waves at a honking driver during the weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Manuela Sanchez of Berkeley waves at a honking driver during the weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Matt Warren holds a banner as Margaret Hasselman arrives for a weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible in Oakland.

Matt Warren holds a banner as Margaret Hasselman arrives for a weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible in Oakland.

Stephen Mr. Fun Kelly plus music during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Stephen Mr. Fun Kelly plus music during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

A weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

A weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

David Estrada carries a banner during weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

David Estrada carries a banner during weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Deborah Alexzander and Matt Warren during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Deborah Alexzander and Matt Warren during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Gayle Eads takes part during weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Gayle Eads takes part during weekly protest by grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

David Estrada (left), Deborah Alexzander, Margaret Hasselman and Matt Warren during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

David Estrada (left), Deborah Alexzander, Margaret Hasselman and Matt Warren during a weekly protest by the grassroots organization Indivisible on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Can Indivisible do for progressives what Tea Party did for GOP?

So during a couple of weeks after the election last fall, he and about 30 former and current congressional staffers and other wonky colleagues wrote a game plan, outlining how liberals could fight back using those same tactics.

Like what to do after asking a hostile question at a town hall:

A staffer will often try to limit your ability to follow up by taking the microphone back immediately after you finish speaking. They cant do that if you keep a firm hold on the mic. No staffer in their right mind wants to look like theyre physically intimidating a constituent, so they will back off, the guide instructs.

Levin is claiming some early victories. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has long wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But after an Arkansas chapter called Ozark Indivisible criticized Cotton for canceling a town hall meeing, 1,000 people showed up for his next one. There, one of the senators constituents explained that her husband is dying of Alzheimers disease. She currently pays $29 a month for her husbands insurance.

And you want to stand there with him at home, expect us to be calm, cool and collected? the woman asked Cotton in a widely shared video. Well, what kind of insurance do you have?

Last week, Cotton was one of the first GOP senators to say that Republicans are moving too fast on pushing their replacement health care bill through Congress.

I do not want to move in a hasty fashion. I want to get it right. I don't want to get it fast, Cotton said on MSNBC.

Levins take: Do you think he would have said that if all those people didnt show up at his town hall?

Now, Indivisible faces challenges, starting with how to manage its growth. The once-volunteer enterprise is hiring several field organizers and has started raising money. More than 13,000 people have donated $520,000 in the last five weeks.

Levin believes the group isnt as diverse as it should be. This week, it will release tips on how groups can broaden their ranks.

We think that its really important that the people most likely to be targeted by immigration legislation, for example, be front and center, Levin said. People have got to pass the mike.

And then theres the question of whether Indivisible can translate that energy into electoral power, said Buffy Wicks, a top state organizer for Obama. Can they develop leaders who can lead the movement?

But Mark Meckler, the Grass Valley attorney who was a co-founder and national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots in 2009, said Indivisibles comparisons to the Tea Partiers is one of the most freaking hilarious things Ive heard in my life.

Indivisible is fundamentally organized by Capitol Hill staffers. We didnt have any Capitol Hill staffers, Meckler said. While conservative organizations that included Washington operatives like Freedom Works were also later involved in the Tea Party movement, Meckler dismissed their contributions. We didnt get anything from them.

These guys (Indivisible) think they know what the Tea Party was about, but theyre totally clueless, said Meckler, who now leads a group called Citizens for Self Governance, which wants to bring more power to the states.

Another question is how Indivisible will focus its message. Or should it?

Standing near Campodonico last week in Oakland were people holding signs in support of Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights, the environment, and dumping Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I think it empowers us all, said Nancy McCormick, a Castro Valley resident. While the Muslim ban or the Affordable Care Act might not be my No. 1 issue, Im going to be out here because theyre all connected.

The potential downside is that with so many splintered interests, McAdam, the author and professor, said, the power of any one issue is diffused.

I wrestle with this question all the time, he said. All those different people give a movement a certain kind of dynamism. But when there are 38 different issues, there is a concern about whether there will be enough sustained energy around one to make a difference.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

See the rest here:
Can Indivisible do for progressives what Tea Party did for GOP? - San Francisco Chronicle