Herding cats and Democrats, oh yeah, tough. But last Tuesday the leaders of about 25 progressive groups in the St. Louis metro area attended a conference called by Missouri Progressive Action Group, a conference aimed at forming a metro wide alliance. Okay, we’re still cats and we haven’t formed an official alliance with a name and all that stuff. But as we talked, some themes emerged.

• Lots of suggestions for coordinating and communicating with each other emerged.
• We’re all fed up with the lack of dynamic messaging. And we want message discipline–that’s if and when we have figured out the messages that will move people.
• We need to use social media more effectively. Mohammar Ghaddafi could tell you that Facebook is not just about what somebody had for breakfast. Same with Twitter.

Deb Lavender moderated for the day. She made introductions by asking one person to take hold of a ball of yarn, introduce himself and throw the ball to someone he knows. And so on. By the end, the web of interconnectedness was obvious–and we had all been introduced.

We spent the morning voicing concerns and trading ideas. The conference ended with Lavender promising to propose some ways we could start getting coordinated. And that, of course, is how cat herding works–not with lariats and spurs, but with promises of better ways to catch a mouse.

The next monthly meeting of Missouri Progressive Action Group (MOPAG) is Sat., Oct. 1, at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters from 12:30 to 2:30. Our guest speaker will be Rep. Stacey Newman, the head of the progressive caucus in the House. November’s speaker will be Jeanette Mott Oxford. Come and join a group that is going to make good things happen.