Countdown 2008 Promises More Advocacy to Be Done

Yesterday, participants gained skills for taking effective action against the Iraq war at Countdown 2008: An Activist Training to Responsibly End the War, an activist training jointly held by UUSC and the UUA. Although participants came from different parts of the country and their experience with activism ranged widely, they were unified in their motivation to end the war.

A highlight of the training was a role-play with Tom Andrews, former congressman from Maine and director of the Win Without War Coalition. Andrews pretended to be a candidate at a candidates' forum, while participants crafted questions for him, framing their opposition to the war. The participants asked really great questions, giving details of the cost of the war and the impact on local communities. I hope their confidence in asking the questions will carry through to real-life scenarios in the coming months. Andrews got the crowd laughing as he responded with typical "politico" messaging. Then he would take off his candidate's hat and explain how the question could have been framed to be more effective.

One of the goals of the training was to end the day with participants feeling equipped to take on specific actions and committing themselves to doing them.

Here are some of the things participants committed to:

"I'm going to go to candidates' forums and ask tough questions about their position on the war."

"I commit to talking to my minister and social justice committee about doing voter work."

"I commit to registering people to vote at my congregation."

"I plan on working with the a local community organization to help their efforts to outreach to marginalized communities."

The wide range of commitments was impressive for a group with many first-time activists!