Let’s see if anyone bites:

At Noeme’s suggestion, I’m going to put out there something I’ve been thinking about the last couple of days. The only way I can name it is “The Netroots Legislative Agenda,” though I’m not in love with that name.

(As a way of background, I came to this idea after pondering Ken’s diary on “Blogging isn’t enough” and the pre-caucus issue forums I helped do in Thurston county and my recent thoughts on caucuses.)

Here’s what I’m thinking: We set up a website along the lines of Since Sliced Bread, the “Common Sense” idea contest that the SEIU ran early this year. The end result, by November, will hopefully be a series of bills that we (the netroots) want passed in the next legislature.

Just to start sketching the idea out, we could start soliciting ideas as soon as a site is up, with conversation enabled of course, and folks could work on improving and sharpening ideas as we go along. Sometime in the fall, we could start separating wheat from chaff and figure out what our top priorities are.

In November, we’ll hold an election (just like real politicians) and the top five ideas (or so) will rise to the top.

Then we write bills. I’m not sure who among us would feel comfortable doing that, but I assume we could convince some willing progressives among the political elite to throw us a bone. How hard could it be anyway, I mean they publish a how-to guide on the leg’s website.

Throughout the process, I also don’t think its a bad idea to go offline and hold some in person conversations either.

How we get there, and how specific we get, is another question all together.

My first thought would be to limit ideas to a small section of policy, say, election reform. If we do that, I already have my pet idea.

Then we get down to business and start supporting our own ideas down in Olympia. Maybe a Netroots Day…