Written by Todd Telford   

There are millions who would love to go to Madison and be among the growing voices of change but are geographically, economically, or physically unable to do so. They, like you, are wondering, "How can we put our energies towards supporting Wisconsin teachers? Can we capitalize on this momentum elsewhere?"

The answer is for progressives organizations everywhere to utilize the miniprotesting technique for curbside activism found at

http://miniprotests.com

Miniprotests are easy to organize and execute, often going from concept to action within a few hours if you've got people at the ready. That gives you a chance to shoot down the Rush/Beck lies the same day they happen, or share a telling revelation such as those that emerged from the punked conversation with Gov. Walker by Ian Murphy pretending to be a Koch brother billionaire.

Each miniprotest is comprised of just a dozen people, with three groups of four spread out over three consecutive street corners. Each group has in its center a person holding a big 30" x 40" sign at waist level, while behind him or her the others hold traditional overhead signs.

The key, though, is that the three main signs make a running message like the old rural Burma Shave ads. This gives us the chance to deliver a much more developed message than "Peace Now!" and even employ a little Socratic method. And with 60 people you can have five separate miniprotests in different parts of town, either with the same main inscriptions among their protest strings or using different themes. The main signs can be reused, so the primary expense for each miniprotest is the cost of printing out large inscriptions from the 36"-wide rolls at Kinko's.

Today's overreaching by Republicans will be their undoing, and we can present that inevitability to dittoheads stuck in the outbound commute in every city. These are the three main signs that they'll read:

Corner #1: "Union Busting Wisc. Gov. Walker is an FTR: Final Term Republican"
Corner #2: "Wis. Budget Shortfall Due Only to Walker's Corporate Tax Giveaways"
#3: "Walker's Needless Union Busting Will End His Career"

Other protest strings elsewhere in town can say:

On corner #1: "Wis. Gov. Walker More Proof That GOP = FFC: Freedom From Compassion"
On corner #2: "Walker Busting Unions Purely to Cripple Dem Contributors"
#3: "Walker Imposing Hardships on Teachers Solely for GOP Gains"

We did these kinds of miniprotests just before the mid-terms here in Northern California. Just about every driver read our signs. Many were dismissive or rude, but we got tons of thumbs ups and playful honks.

As America learns more about Walker's power grab on the backs of teachers and other public employees, the revolt within the Republican base becomes more and more a certainty. On the streets, we accelerate that process.

Todd Telford
miniprotests.com