Digital Democracy: Ben Cohen takes his political activism to a new, Internet-savvy level

LIVING Sunday, September 14, 2003 Subscribe! More in Living Living Archives for: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Digital Democracy: Former ice cream magnate Ben Cohen takes his political activism to a new, Internet-savvy level

Jerry Greenfield was called into action the other day to help his old pal, Ben Cohen, with a little project.

Greenfield had been in charge of "mobile promotions" when the pair ran Ben & Jerry's, and his particular expertise was required. The two needed a set of wheels, V8-engine, used, American-made. The car had to have the panache and power to pull a flat-bed trailer that serves as a pedestal for a sculpture that hit the road this weekend.

Cohen and Greenfield were stunned by their good fortune -- and as tempted as some are by a pint of Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz -- when they came upon a Lincoln Towne Car, white with a red interior, part of the "Presidential Series."

Alas, the price was a bit high, the car drove a bit loose, and Cohen and Greenfield settled for a Crown Victoria. But the shopping trip in which they bumped into a car with presidential connections was serendipitous: The sculpture the Crown Vic will tow is a 12-foot rendering of President Bush.

It shows the commander-in-chief with his pants on fire and is titled, "Pants On Fire," a shortening of the schoolyard taunt, "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire." Cohen conceived of the sculpture and is its "general contractor," he said.

"What's on my mind is showing George the door in 2004," said the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's.

"I feel like I have a much better understanding of George Bush after seeing how parts of the business world operate," Cohen said. "It's the same power politics: I'm gonna get mine; screw you."

Cohen acknowledges Bush stands in the way of a few things he'd like to accomplish -- things that are rooted in 10 principles that guide his political action group, TrueMajority. The tenets include closing the gap between rich and poor; ensuring equal justice under the law, and combating world poverty and hunger. They were selected by Cohen and cohorts, in conjunction with other nonprofits that support similar goals.

TrueMajority, which says it has 330,000 members, seeks to influence public policy by peppering lawmakers in Congress with faxes urging them to vote a certain way on issues. It responds to certain events, like President Bush's speech last week, and informs its members of upcoming demonstrations -- like a planned day of protest Oct. 25.

The issues TrueMajority attempts to influence are based on their "congruence" with the 10 principles, Cohen said. The group has recently targeted a Federal Communications Commission ruling on media ownership and mergers, and a White House request for funding nuclear weapons research.

"Pants on Fire," which is being road-tested this weekend in Burlington, is an in-your-face off-shoot project developed by a sister organization, TrueMajority Action. The mother group addresses issues and attempts to influence the political process practicing a kind of electronic democracy through a free Internet service that helps people contact their legislators about a wide range of issues: Click a button; fax a prepared letter.

Cohen and Greenfield started Ben & Jerry's in a converted gas station in Burlington 25 years ago, and have long made social activism part of their business plan. Three years ago they sold the company to Unilever, parlaying their original $12,000 investment into tens of millions of dollars.

They remain connected to Ben & Jerry's to support company projects that interest them. These include the introduction of organic ice cream and scoop shops that are owned and operated by nonprofits.

But these days, their social activism is mostly outside the framework of the company.

Name that nonprofitThe Burlington headquarters of TrueMajority is a third-floor downtown office that resembles a Romper Room think-tank.

If this is where a handful of people (and a watchdog/wonk in D.C.) determine what Americans care about, they have fun doing so -- batting around beach balls as Neil Young mellows their minds.

They play with props that describe the federal defense budget and dress in T-shirts and shorts. They think up names for nonprofit enterprises and protest events ("Burning Bush" was a candidate for the sculpture), an activity for which they have proven finesse.

Cohen, who became rich and famous in part for the names of Ben & Jerry's flavors, said he tossed around several names before deciding on TrueMajority.

"We worked a lot on the name," Cohen said. "We wanted to reflect the idea that the reality is that, based on a bunch of polls, the majority of Americans do agree with the TrueMajority agenda."

Others, including the White House, take issue with the premise that Cohen's digital organization represents a majority.

"A large number of Americans," said a White House spokesman, "if not a larger number of Americans than not, support the president's efforts to strengthen our economy, win the war on terror and protect homeland security."

Maybe the name isn't as dead-on as Cherry Garcia (you know you'll get a cherry when you take a bite) -- but the phenomenon of digital democracy is proving to be an important one.

Just as Howard Dean is using the Internet to great success in his presidential campaign, organizations like TrueMajority are making it easy for people to express themselves -- and have at least a modicum of influence -- in Washington.

"The Internet has the potential not only to widen citizen participation, but also to deepen it," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wrote in an e-mail. "Now we're seeing some of that potential come to life as never before with the emergence of grass-roots organizations like TrueMajority and MoveOn. TrueMajority in particular seems to be reaching people who want to follow a wide range of issues. The kind of dialogue this makes possible is new, and it's important. It forces lawmakers to look into issues they may want to avoid. That's the kind of impact that can affect the way Congress sets priorities, and even how it decides them."

One year, 330,000 membersTrueMajority (www.truemajority.org), which Cohen started a year ago, claims 4,000 Vermonters among its hundreds of thousands of members. If you join the group, you receive e-mails concerning specific legislation and issues under consideration in Washington, D.C.

Though the group is not associated with Ben & Jerry's, it was the Vermont connection that intrigued Suzanne DeBrosse of Colchester. DeBrosses, 42, teaches media literacy at St. Michael's College. She heard about TrueMajority through a fellow member of the social action committee at her church, and decided to log on.

She was impressed by the convenience and efficiency of TrueMajority: Two strokes on the keyboard enable her (and other members) to instantly convey their opinions to their representatives in Washington.

"Our biggest challenge is to preserve democracy by getting people to participate and vote. And that's where I embrace what TrueMajority is trying to do," DeBrosse said. "I think they've got it: Keeping it really simple and succinct, and making it super-easy to participate."

Paper the houseIn an e-mail sent Thursday, TrueMajority addressed the FCC ruling in anticipation of an upcoming Senate vote. The e-mail explains the issue, gives some background and includes a letter urging senators to vote for measures that "prohibit giant media conglomerates from growing even larger."

By typing "reply" and "send," a member can endorse that position and send a letter (as composed by TrueMajority) by fax to his representatives in Congress. A few extra clicks enable members to modify the letter; they can also suggest issues for the organization to target.

Frank Bryan, a professor of political science at the University of Vermont, said the responses will be tallied. How much influence they have is another question.

l the literature says that the numbers have clout, no matter where they come from," Bryan said. "But numbers individually derived have tremendously more clout than numbers institutionally driven, whether from the right or left. ...

"When Rush Limbaugh tells his legions to fax Congress, all it does is just tie up the fax machine, and everybody knows what's going on."

In part because TrueMajority faxes identify the sender as a constituent, as opposed to TrueMajority member, there seems to be no official count on Capitol Hill of the number of messages from the group. (Cohen says TrueMajority generates more mail to Congress than any other organization.) But no one doubts they paper the house (and sometimes tie up fax machines.) All three Washington, D.C., offices representing Vermont say members pay attention to Vermont voices.

"It does give you a good sense of what people are thinking," said Diane Derby, spokeswoman for Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt. "It's as basic as democracy gets: Write your senator."

Leahy's staff members say they recognize the fax number that generates TrueMajority's mailings. They estimate they have received more than 1,000 faxes from the group in a single evening several times, and more than 10,000 since the beginning of the year.

"I would make TrueMajority brochures available to people inside the scoop shop so people who came by could join," he said. "I might write the (10) principles on an ice-cream cake and put it in the display freezer, offer people a special discount on a TrueMajority ice-cream cake with the principles inscribed."

Maybe eating the principles has as much, um, bite as mailing them to your senator.

"I think generally that the promises of the electronic democracy people, left and right, are profoundly exaggerated," said Bryan, the political scientist.

"'True Majority?' What the hell does that mean? Gimme a break? It's really: AlotOfUsArePissedOffAboutThisIssueMajority."

Words fail me with these two ice cream queens.

Why they won't take their millions back to Brooklyn and Sanders with them is beyond me.

I guess they feel they have a minor fiefdom here.

Cohen endorses Kucinich....bet Howard "Little Corporal" Dean who kissed his butt for ten years loves that.

Cohen bitches about business practices but doesn't mention that he fought a unionization of his plants tooth and nail and he forgets about closing down his company child care center because it was too expensive.

Let's visit his web site!

I must admit (he said with noticeable chagrin) that I did.

I'm keeping score of the Freep BS quotient in The year of The Little Corporal.

You may have noticed Sam "Roadie" Hemingway's love ode about Dean's "triumphal return" to NYC the other week.

As I noted in a Letter to the ED last week, The Freep's accountants are going to have a heck of a time figuring out how much of Sammy's salary will have to be charged as a political contribution.

P.S. Thought you were moving south!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.