Just Progress was formed by Progressive Democrats in the reddest county of the nation's reddest State -Tulsa County, Oklahoma. We are engaged in an experiment on how to advance Progressive candidates and politics in a Red State.

Our Red State experiment flows from three core beliefs: (1) The world's welfare and our nation's commitment to human rights will continue to erode until Progressives retake control of the federal government and become much more competitive in Red States' state and local elections; (2) A Progressive Revival cannot be achieved unless Progressive Democrats significantly increase their political participation; and (3) achieving a national Progressive Revival depends greatly on Red State Progressives changing their home states' political environments. Consistent with these beliefs, Just Progress members are putting into practical political action three key lessons learned from the 2004 elections and Progressive thinkers such as George Lakoff.

Howard Dean's Presidential campaign proved that significant money and volunteer time can be raised simply by encouraging Progressives to give only the money and time they can afford. Accordingly, Just Progress membership requirements feature modest monetary and volunteer time obligations.

In Don't Think of an Elephant, George Lakoff demonstrated that it is futile for Progressives to support Democratic candidates who do not advocate Progressive policies. Anti-Progressive voters rarely vote for anti-Progressive Democrats. The Democratic Party's Progressive base does not support anti-Progressive candidates. The Progressive Revival is not furthered when Democratic officeholders support Anti-Progressive policies Therefore Just Progress provides money and volunteers only to Progressive Democratic candidates.

The 2004 elections were not kind to Red State Democrats. Now, many Red State Democratic officeholders and party officials are trying to make the Democratic Party less Progressive. Just Progress members decry this trend, but we take seriously the warnings of Red State Democratic officeholders that most Red State Democrats will not run as Progressives until effective Progressive grassroots networks are established. To meet this challenge, Just Progress members engaged intensely in the 2005 Oklahoma Democratic Party Elections to elect Progressive party officers at all levels of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. Just Progress will soon kickoff its Fully
Activated Precincts campaign with the goal of establishing Progressive grassroots communications, fund raising and volunteer networks in every Oklahoma precinct. We undertake this challenging project in the belief that neighbor-to-neighbor conversations are the best advertisements for Progressive values.

Our Red State experiment is a long-term project. Red States did not become anti-Progressive overnight, so it is unrealistic to expect a quick Progressive Revival. In the short-term, we believe our experiment will make it more difficult for Anti-Progressives to win and will keep alive the Progressive message that there is a viable alternative to Anti-Progressive government. We also believe this experiment will hasten the Progressive Revival if Progressives everywhere will undertake it and support it with their time, energy and money.