Like many New Yorkers, I was surprised and disappointed to read that Charles Schumer voted in support of the Coburn Amendment. You know, that pretty little piece of redneck legislative garbage that stripped “any … museum, theater [or] art center” from receiving any bailout funds in the Senate version of the bill. Of course, we can condemn Chuck for doing a fairly lousy job of representing his constituency.

But let’s look at the big picture.

Prior to this, Schumer had a fairly respectable arts record. We think. Not to criticize too harshly, but Americans for the Arts has some great resources related to House (pdf link) voting records, but very little on the Senate. We can get into the semantics of the accessibility and usability the resources Americans for the Arts does have on the Senate, but the bottom line is that this lack of information is symptomatic of the organization’s lack of ability to be effective in a Senate fight. If one has any doubt on this, the final vote of 73 to 24 with many theoretically safe Senators voting in support of the amendment should serve as a final, condemning judgment.

It’s time to come up with a real strategy for the Senate and pushing the Arts’ legislative agenda that doesn’t center on email campaigns. Americans for the Arts needs to readdress its tactics, and start operating as if they were a lobby and not a community theater organization. This means smarter communications, better anticipation, and 365 day per year mobilization.

Have you seen their Arts Funding Response and Readiness Kit? Reminds me of something one would find in Highlights Magazine.

Take this down to ground level, and back to our senior Senator. If you go to Schumer’s website, there is a page to email Chuck Schumer on a number of different topics.

Arts isn’t even among the choices.

Before you push the agenda, you need to get on the agenda.

Tagged with: americans for the arts , charles schumer , coburn amendment , economic recovery , senate , stimulus