Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

If you are familiar with OpenLeft, you are familiar with Chris Bowers, Mike Lux, Matt Stoller, Paul Rosenberg and adamterando. You know that it is a great blog to read, and that it provides many ways for people to help change the way politics are played.

Whether you want to help Obama and the Democrats win or you are just plain sick and tired of the way politics are played, I would like to tell you why I think you need to go over there and check this out.

OpenLeft has a new project starting. If you don’t have money to donate but want to help, here is how. If you don’t have a lot of time but want to help, here is how. It won’t cost you a dime, you don’t have to solicit, and you don’t even have to leave your computer.

Link

The idea came about in the American Blogger series initiated by Paul Rosenberg. Here’s where it begins:

If you’ve ever spent time reading local and regional newspaper sites on the internet, you’ve probably noticed a disturbing phenomenon; right-wingers have run amok in the comments sections of the newspapers. Progressives may rule blogs and online fundraising and organizing, but when it comes to influencing more traditional media, even if it’s in an internet forum, we lag behind. Sometimes far behind. This becomes increasingly problematic as we draw closer to the election. Many more voters read online newspapers than read blogs. So it becomes very important to not only rebut these ignoramuses, but to provide additional context and knock down bad information in news articles covering the presidential race.

From concept to implementation: (emphasis is mine)

To combat this I (adamterando) suggested we monitor online newspaper sites in key swing states until the election. Readers would comment on stories, knock down attacks, add truth to the discussion, and in many cases, contact reporters directly to encourage better reporting (if they got it wrong) or thank them for outstanding writing (if they got it right). .

After getting a lot of good ideas for how to carry this idea forward, I’ve come up with a plan for how to proceed. This link will take you to the extended entry.

How progressive, revolutionary, pro-active, free and easy can helping Obama possibly be? All you have to do is blog them your two cents worth in comments, and lord knows, we are all experts at that. If you can cross-post their diary to any of the 17 battle state blogs that would be grrreat.

So STOP what you are doing and immediately go over and pitch in. Uncle Sam America needs YOU. Just don’t forget to tip me before you go. We need an invasion of bloggers to help change conventional wisdom in the seventeen battleground states.