Effective Tactics for Defending Freedom: Knowing the Enemy

1
Effective Tactics for Defending Freedom Knowing
the Enemy
American Dream Coalition
April 19, 2009

• Shaka Mitchell
• Executive Vice President
• Tennessee Center for Policy Research

2
Classifying the Enemy

• Questions to ask
• Who is most affected by this controversy?
• Where is the battle likely to be fought? Or who
  has the ability to remedy the situation?
• What are your core strengths and weaknesses?

3
Classifying the Enemy

• Large Scale
• Global warming, climate change, carbon capping
• Income tax, death tax
• Federal bailout
• immigration

• Mid-size
• Bailout initiatives
• Government transparency
• School choice/ education reform
• 2nd amendment issues
• Criminalization
• Occupation licensing
• Grocery and/or luxury taxes

• Small (but deadly)
• Zoning/ property taxes
• Blight, eminent domain abuse
• Red light cameras
• Local school board decisions/ charter schools
• Bond referendums

4
For immediate release
February 26, 2007 Al Gores Personal Energy Use
is His Own Inconvenient Truth Gores home uses
more than 20 times the national average.
5
Website Traffic
6
Testimony

• In Support of an Economic Civil Rights Act
• House of Representatives
• State Government Subcommittee of State Local
  Committee
• April 1, 2009
• by Justin Owen, Director of Legal Policy, and
  Shaka Mitchell, Executive Vice President

7
Lobby Days

• Taxi deregulation proposed
• 70 taxi drivers on Capitol steps
• Locally led, nationall supported

8
Rallies

• Rally with kids, families, business owners
• Kids acting as street team
• March directly into city council meeting
• Meeting lasted 3 hours

9
Choose your own liberty defense

• Large
• TV commercials
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Paid lobbyists
• National think tanks
• National marches

10
Choose your own liberty defense

• Mid-size
• Radio ads
• State newspapers
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Meet-up groups
• Google/Yahoo groups
• State think tanks

• National interest groups
• State legislator visits
• Group lobby days
• Letter writing
• Blogging networks
• Federal lawsuits
• Rallies

11
Choose your own liberty defense

• Small but deadly
• Local newspapers
• Door knocking
• Posters/flyers
• Townhall meetings
• City council meeting testimony
• County commission meeting testimony
• Phone chains
• Local bulletins

• House parties
• Litigation by letterhead
• Rallies