The Progressive’s Guide to For media inquiries contact:

Elliott Bent
Raising Hell elliott@ksefocus.com
How to Win Grassroots 802.229.4900 ext. 112
Campaigns, Pass Ballot Box Laws,
and Get the Change We Voted For Author Events Coordinator:
Jenna Dimmick
Jamie Court jdimmick@chelseagreen.com
802.229.4900 ext.120
$14.95 US • Paperback Original
ISBN 9781603582933
5½ x 8½ • 232 pages
Pub Date: September 2010

“ Political ‘leaders’ can only lead if there is a parade for them to get in front of. They can act effectively only if the
public forces them to. Progressives need to start many more parades. Jamie Court tells you how in this guidebook
to action.
”
—George Lakoff, author of Don’t Think of an Elephant! and The Political Mind

Who Says Progressives Don’t Like to Fight?

The Progressive’s Guide to Raising Hell takes us into the “no holds barred” world of activism and campaigning. Your guide is
master tactician, consumer advocate and political street fighter Jamie Court. He says the first step of any political battle is to
get mad—the last step, never let go.
Court, President of Consumer Watchdog, the enormously successful consumer advocacy organization based in California,
is a longtime organizer of successful ballot campaigns and reform initiatives. In the book, he offers battle-proven, step-by-
step directions to force and expose your opponent’s mistakes, and leverage public opinion in the direction of progressive
change. Court provides real world examples like:

• Purchasing and publishing the social security numbers of California elected officials who refused to
vote for privacy protections
• Passing landmark regulation of insurance companies at the ballot box
• Exposing health insurer abuses that were outlawed under the most progressive parts of Obamacare
• Preventing oil giants from shorting the market and jacking up gasoline prices
• Changing Google’s privacy policies through guerilla advocacy

The book’s release is sandwiched between the BP oil spill and the midterm elections, making it a perfect study guide for
any discussion of populist rage, Obama’s failure to deliver, and making change happen every day. Court is raising the flag of
direct democracy, providing us with the do-it-yourself blueprint for political change.
Progressive’s Guide takes the fight from closed doors and halls of power in Washington and brings it home to states and com-
munities, which is where true political successes can occur.

Jamie Court is president of Consumer Watchdog, an award-winning, nationally-recognized consumer

advocacy organization. He is also a frequent commentator on America Public Media’s “Marketplace” radio
program and on the Los Angeles Times op-ed page. He currently resides in the Los Angeles area. For two
decades Court has led major corporate campaign to reforms insurers, banks, oil companies, utilities and
political practices.

For 25 years the award winning Consumer Watchdog has fought crooked politicians and corporate abuses of all stripes.
The organization sponsors Insidegoogle.com and Oilwatchdog.org. Learn more at Consumerwatchdog.org

Digital Press Kit: http://media.chelseagreen.com/The-Progressives-Guide-To-Raising-Hell

Questions for Jamie Court
Q: You’ve been called a hellraiser by the best of them. How did you come to be known as an activ-
ist who gets results?

Q: In your new book, The Progressive’s Guide to Raising Hell, you speak to those who voted Obama
and other liberals into office in the last election, but are now losing faith that real change will hap-
pen. They are getting downright mad, and you tell them to get even madder. Why?

Q: What kind of changes do you want populist rage to usher in?

Q: In your book, you outline what you call the “ten rules of populist power”—essentially 10 rules
for forcing change. Some are quite surprising. Which of these rules was the hardest to learn and
to act upon?

Q: You and the organization you run, Consumer Watchdog, have organized some very successful
ballot-box campaigns in California. What were some of those campaigns and why did you choose
to go the direct-democracy route?

Q: You’ve taken on insurers, banks, oil companies, utilities, and politicians and you’ve used some
pretty unique tactics to get results—like purchasing the social security numbers of California
reps to prove a point about privacy. Can you tell us about that? Why did you do it?

Q: Can you tell us about a few other radical moves you’ve made and the change they’ve prompt-
ed?

Q: What do you think it will take to make progressives take the kind of direct action that Tea
Party supporters have taken to get the change they want?

Suggested interview topics for Jamie Court:

. Progressives’ Next Steps on Health Care: How State Ballot Measures Can Deliver What Washington Did Not
. Google’s Privacy Problems and Wi-Spying: What Can the Public Do?
. A Progressive Answer to the Tea Party: Pitfalls and Advantages
. Reining in Wall Street: What Will it Take to Make the New Federal Watchdog Agency Work
. Cleaner, Cheaper Energy: How Do You Overcome the Power of Big Oil
. Holding BP Accountable: How Do We Do it?
. Upcoming Midterm Elections: Progressive Backlash?
. Direct Democracy Via Ballot Measure: Why it Works and Why it Doesn’t
. Health Insurance Premium Regulation Under Obamacare: How California’s Regulation, Sponsored by Court’s
Group, is a Model

“ Tough, smart, strategic. Read it and take action. NOW.

—Robert Greenwald, director and producer of Iraq for Sale and
”
Out-Foxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, founder of Brave New Films