by Brenna Conway
I was talking to a friend of mine this week-a good democrat, and she said to me, "Republican elected officials are tending towards anti-intellectualism. They are purposefully disregarding the facts.” Her comment was flattering to Democrats but I won't pretend it wasn't biased.
There is a broader question here: where do we get our information? No one should shy away from arguments of fact and reason, least of all our elected officials. So how do we prevent debate based in a disregard of facts? The only defense is a well-informed electorate. Here are a few places I go to for information that informs my Democratic opinion.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight blog, hosted by the New York Times. He looks at politics from a statistical perspective, predicting who might win elections and how votes on specific bills will play out. You don't learn as much about the issues from him so much as what is going on and the major players. It's about the big picture of politics.
Capitol Fax blog has a similar effect at the local level. This blog by Rich Miller offers plenty of information about the issues facing our state government, but the real triumph of the site is how it keeps you informed about the process and motives behind the decisions our state officials are making.
There are also many great resources for keeping up with the progressive point of view. My favorite is Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio: http://chicagosprogressivetalk.com/
But never forget, keeping up with the news is the most important tool we have. As Democrats we care about our community. We always want to know what's going on in our backyard.
Brenna Conway is Associate Executive Director of the DPDC. She comes from a background in political organizing having worked on Governor Quinn's campaign in 2010 and on campaigns in Milwaukee.
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