Fight for Animal Rights Ideas--Vote!

by Stephanie Ernst · 2008-12-28 07:02:00 UTC
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Have you voted for animal rights ideas in the Ideas for Change in America project yet? We have just a few more days before first-round voting ends, so if you haven't yet, you need to get on it--now. I've noticed that a number of animal rights advocates and readers of this blog have voted on an idea encouraging Obama to go vegan in the agricultural policy section but haven't voted for animal rights ideas. Time to fix that, friends. But before you head over there, let's talk strategy.

This round, which ends when the year does, is not about voting for every idea that you agree or kind of agree with. We need to vote strategically in both rounds, but in different ways. And this time, it's about getting the ideas that are best and that have a real chance to be voted into the final top 10 into the second round. So here are my tips:

* Read all the way through ideas before you vote on them; do not rely on just the idea headline--most ideas include more details in their summary, or even added-on ideas.

* Remember that agreeing with an idea personally or in theory isn't enough of a reason to vote for it. Vote for ideas that are clear, well written, realistic (realistic as in they must be ideas Obama & Co. have the authority to actually implement, work toward, or encourage), and in tune with your own ideals.

* Keep in mind at all times that only the top 3 ideas are moving forward. So if there are ideas in the top 3 that you don't think are as good as ones below, and you want to raise the ones below with your vote, don't vote for those ideas in the top 3 that you don't like as much--that's the equivalent of canceling out your votes for the lower ideas.

* Remember that in the second round, AR ideas will be up against ideas from all the other categories, and everyone will be voting on all ideas--we'll need votes from those for whom animal rights isn't a priority too.

* Feel free to change your mind. Now you not only can vote for ideas, but also can remove your vote from ideas by selecting the "Remove Vote" link below the idea's vote count (when you're logged in, of course).

In upcoming posts, I'll be highlighting some of the ideas that I think are both capable of making it into the second round and capable of then making it to the final top 10--and that also remain true to animal rights. You can even look forward to some self-criticism regarding the Animal Welfare Act idea that I penned and, ironically, don't support.

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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