Anyone who is on the side of progressive politics and against the extremely frightening fragments of the Republican party that are now emerging as the Tea Party needs to become involved in a political campaign in your district, either at the local, state, or national level. The reality is that many believe that Democrats are jeopardy of losing many seats as a result of an uninformed populace lashing out about the hard economic times that we are all suffering from.

While many candidates will ask for your donations in order to purchase media for their campaigns, there are a number of ways to contribute your time and energy to a political campaign.  I guarantee that the often understaffed campaigns will be happy to have any help that they can get. Here are some of the ways that you can help your candidate in their battle for re-election.

1.  Writing letters to the editor. You can do this either in conjunction with the campaign as specific issues arise that your councilman, representative, senator, or other elected officials arise or you can write your own letters to the editor specifically stating the ways that the elected official has benefitted your district. Either the volunteer coordinator or the campaign manager should be able to help you with this.

2.  Attending the official's Town Hall meetings. Be prepared to wave signs and refute any ill-formed logic heard from extremists during the meeting. Take a camera and demonstrate the idiocy of some of the Tea Party supporters who just happen to show up and put it on You-Tube.

3.  Volunteer at the campaign’s headquarters (if they have one). Often, this will involve stuffing envelopes and calling to ensure that people Get out to Vote. While many of the volunteer tasks don’t require a lot of skill, the labor is an essential part of the campaign and the GOTV (Get Out the Vote) campaigns are often considered the most important element of a political campaign.

4.  Recruit more volunteers. As your friends in the area to volunteer for specific events, bring them along with you to campaign headquarters, or take them along to Town Hall meetings.

5.  Introductions. If your group or organization would be in support of the candidate, introducing the candidate to them is a great way to garner more support for the elected official, which can result in campaign contributions, lists of members for the GOTV process, and more.