Image Credits: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Ever since Donald Trump became President, progressive groups have been holding marches around the country that take aim at his perceived and actual agenda. These marches include the Women’s March, which focused on issues like gender equality; the March for Science, focusing on climate change and other environmental issues; and most recently, the March for Our Lives, which was centered around gun violence and school shootings. In response, counter-marches have been planned to show support for President Trump and Conservative issues, most notably the Second Amendment.
While marches and rallies are a great way to get people energized and inspired to take action in their communities, they are meaningless unless actual action is taken afterwards. Just because you attend an event that gets a lot of media attention and has great speakers doesn’t guarantee that things are going to change once the event ends. For a rally to be successful, the attendees should leave it feeling ready to hit the ground running for a cause or candidate.
The same can be said when it comes to posting on social media. While Twitter and Facebook are great platforms to spread your message, constantly posting about an issue doesn’t translate into support and votes. It might be easy to just tweet something about a cause or candidate, but not everyone who votes has a Twitter account or a Facebook page. You can build on social media posts by knocking on doors or phone banking.
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After attending a pro-life or pro-Second Amendment rally, consider signing up to volunteer for a local candidate who advocates for those issues. You’re doing a lot more for the Second Amendment and the pro-life movement by working to get people elected who will work to change laws and advance those issues through the legislative process. You can also do more for those issues by writing to your representatives or even testifying on pending legislation in your home state.
The fight isn’t over once you’re done marching. No amount of tweets will change laws. You’ve probably seen a million articles floating around about the midterms and how Democrats are energized and ready to vote, so Republicans can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. We worked hard in 2014 and 2016 to get a majority on Capitol Hill and in state houses nationwide. We can add to it in 2018 in battleground states like Indiana and West Virginia. Republicans and conservatives need to be pounding the pavement and talking to voters about our candidates and causes; We need to be tabling at community events and phone banking. Nothing moves unless it’s pushed, and we need to keep pushing for change in our communities.
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Melissa B
CONTRIBUTOR
Melissa is a young conservative navigating the world of post-grad one cup of coffee (or glass of wine) at a time. When she isn't volunteering on campaigns up and down the ballot in deep blue Maryland or trying to get selfies with politicians, you can find her reading, cheering on the Ravens, or hanging out with friends.
