A NATIONAL PETITION DRIVE WITH LOCAL FLAVOR.(Eldorado Section)

Byline: DAVID COLLINS, PHOTOS BY DAVID COLLINS

Internet political-action group prepares photo petition with help of Eldorado resident

It should come as little surprise that far-reaching invitations to a politically focused house party in Eldorado would attract mostly Eldorado-area residents.

Camerada Road resident Ron Dans hosted 12 guests at a house party Dec. 5 to plan a campaign to send photo petitions to U.S. Rep. Tom Udall. Dans has long enjoyed working for his favorite causes, so he was satisfied with his party, but he's perplexed that MoveOn, through its Internet organization MoveOn.org Political Action, invested its post-election petition drive for New Mexico's third Congressional district in a house party at his remote Eldorado home.

"If you are only going to have one meeting, don't put it out here in Eldorado," Dans said. "It's sort of bizarre that they only had one party per congressional district."

Based on the capacity of the event, the campaign seems geared to attract hundreds, rather than thousands, of signatures in the district. MoveOn's online RSVP invitation said the party could accommodate only 20 guests, so Dans' 12 guests were more than half of the best attendance MoveOn anticipated for the effort. Dans anticipates the photo petitions will have an emotional impact on Udall, but he said the campaign is "a way to keep people engaged as well."

A left-of-center advocacy group and political action committee focused on national politics, MoveOn is known for its ability to mobilize voters -- especially young ones -- using the Internet. Dans' guests defied MoveOn's propensity to attract younger voters, but his party typified the national organization's ability to mobilize activists whose lifestyles can otherwise involve frequent or distant relocations.

A former Wall Street data specialist who worked in the financial-services industries, Dans has been active in some form of political cause since the 1960s. He said he lived near People's Park in Berkeley, Calif., in the 1960s, worked on anti-nuclear causes through the 1970s and 1980s, and got involved in local elections in Pennsylvania in the 1980s while working against a large coal-fired electric-generating plant.

Dans moved to Eldorado a year and a half ago, bringing along his political inclinations. Through e-mail contacts with MoveOn, Dan was selected to host get-out-the-vote house parties during the Nov. 6 elections. That event attracted as many as 20 volunteers on one of the three days during which Dans and others made thousands of out-of-state calls.

Dans knew about half of the people who attended his

Dec. 5 photo-petition party from the earlier get-out-the-vote party. It appears to him MoveOn lacks an established infrastructure at the local level, at least in his district, but instead relies on rapid mobilization of ready activists during particular campaigns.

"One of the things I really like about MoveOn is we get to meet people within the community that we would not get to meet otherwise -- people who are activists to some degree," Dans said.

The substance of the current campaign matters to Dans, but on a deeper level he said he appreciates neighbors who want to make a difference.

The post-election photo campaign is targeting representatives in 350 of Congress' 435 districts, Dons said. He wasn't sure which districts were selected, or why, but said petitions would go to MoveOn's friends and foes alike.

In the campaign, petitioners plan to give representatives photos of signers holding signs advocating for causes that matter to them. MoveOn provided four standard pleas: clean energy now, U.S. out of Iraq, restore democracy and health care for all.

Democracy needs to be restored, in some people's view, Dans said, because "a lot of people feel the Constitution and the Bill of Rights have been under attack through the past six years with Bush, and they want those things reversed."

Contact David Collins at collidavid@gmail.com.

CAPTION(S):

1. Ron Dans explains to his guests how they can participate in MoveOn's nationwide post-election photo petition. Listening are Bob Coyle, left, Steve Zappe and Tyler Tribby.

2. Susan Latham poses with a sign for the photo petition.