Political action -- Southern style

If you’re a political progressive in Georgia, you’ve pretty much been sitting on your thumbs the last few months while voters in the Northeast and Midwest have had all the presidential fun.

As a member of the Super Tuesday gaggle of primary states, Georgia won’t get much national attention, but if you’ve got a car or money for bus fare, you can get active in the most important primary in the Southeast, Feb. 3 in South Carolina.

On Friday, Jan. 30, in Columbia, the Democratic presidential contenders will gather for a relatively unusual dialogue sponsored by the People’s Agenda for Economic Justice. Each candidate will appear before the audience at Township Auditorium and field questions from preselected inquisitors.

The objective is simple, says Anton Gunn, director of South Carolina Fair Share, an organizing group for the People’s Agenda: to pin down the candidates on issues ranging from affordable housing and childcare to environmental justice. In other words, issues that haven’t gotten much play on the stump.

After the dialogue, which will last from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., attendees will be split up into groups, loaded into vans and sent door-to-door in local communities to register voters and educate them on the People’s Agenda for Economic Justice’s issues. Gunn expects 1,500-2,000 participants.

The People’s Agenda advocates for a living wage, accessible and affordable health care and housing, and better access to higher education and training for average Americans. While the group’s name may sound like a holdover from the Cultural Revolution, it encompasses plenty of mainstream groups, everyone from the AFL-CIO to Unitarian Universalist Fellowship members to the NAACP.

If you’re interested, call 803-252-9813. The group plans to meet at 8:15 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, at the Adams Mark Hotel in Columbia. You must be registered by Jan. 28. For info, go to http://www.meridiangraphics.net/peoples.htm.






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