Two new websites, BuyBlue.org and ChooseTheBlue.com managed to attract national attention in the closing weeks of 2004. The site owners classify national chains as either "red" or "blue" based on whether their employees -- almost always top executives -- give major financial support to either Republicans or Democrats, respectively. Progressives then are encouraged to "shop their party preference" (by choosing Costco and Barnes & Noble over Wal-Mart or Amazon.com, for example).

The trouble is, it’s unlikely that millionaire executives will be deterred from investing the legal limit of $4000 (per election cycle) to any federal candidate by a sales slump. And with the scheme already publicized in conservative media, wealthier conservatives could well beat liberals at their own game.

But leaving aside questions of whether "buying blue" could actually shift political power, do we really want to merge our roles as consumers with our roles as citizens in a democracy?

To their credit, BuyBlue.org notes "we wholeheartedly encourage buying from local and independent businesses whenever possible." For progressives, and all citizens who value democracy over loyalty to a particular party, this is where real opportunity lies.

Supporting chains -- even those whose executives may share your political leanings -- necessarily concentrates wealth. While our democracy is badly in need of changes to prevent wealth from translating readily into political power, for now, dispersing economic power among millions of small, independent businesses is one key to restraining corporate power and sustaining democracy.

America's 23 million small business owners (including self-employed individuals) currently lean Republican, but they aren't well served by either major party. Meanwhile, corporate entities like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce build political credibility from small business owners, even while backing the interests of large corporations. In many cases, such as banning the ability of governments to maintain small, local, or domestic preferences for contracts and purchases, they actively harm independent business owners.

Then there’s the National Federation of Independent Business, which proclaims itself “the voice of small business,” but advances right-wing ideology far more than small businesses interests. More than 98 percent of its congressional endorsements went to Republicans in 2004.

Progressives can't afford to pass up the opportunity presented by the neglect of most independent businesses owners' interests. At the least, they could make it too costly for the Bush administration to try using entrepreneurs as cover for regressive taxes and corporate subsidies. And with some conscious support of initiatives that exploit the division of interests between giant corporations and entrepreneurs, progressives will discover untapped opportunities and create powerful new alliances.

For example, small business owners are among those most impacted by skyrocketing health care costs. They're ripe for organizing to take on insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry, as the Maine People's Alliance demonstrated last year in leading passage of a groundbreaking universal health care initiative -- with independent business owners playing a critical role.

In addition to identifying opportunities for coalitions on specific issues, deliberately supporting community businesses and building relationships with the people who run them is invaluable. I learned this in 1998 when I co-founded and began directing the Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) -- a first-of-kind group in Colorado that united independent, locally-owned businesses of all trades with residents and civic groups. Our common purpose was to prevent our town from turning into a generic conglomeration of big box stores and cookie-cutter chains.

While the owners were more conservative than the general population, once they saw I was helping bring them business, few of them worried that I was an outspoken activist. In fact, advancing explicitly pro-local, anti-chain policy initiatives led many of them to question both the perspectives they heard from corporate advocacy groups and their identification with them.

That community-organizing model has spread to 13 other communities in the past three years, aided by the American Independent Business Alliance. These groups have stopped corporate subsidies, shifted economic policies and created a critical counterforce in communities where corporate voices previously dominated.

On a larger scale, progressives should generate ideas that attract small business into new alliances while serving broader purposes. In Montana, for example, a bill to implement a progressive corporate income tax on big box stores -- combined with a living wage incentive -- will be debated in early 2005. Such innovative tactics should be supported and emulated rapidly.

Our daily decisions are the first place to start the process of building alliances with independent businesses. Of course, treatment of workers, environmental policies and many more factors are worth considering in choosing where we do business, and local businesses won't always rate highest on the combination that's most important to you. But our patronage will help to build those personal relationships that can provide the foundation for new coalitions with small business owners.

Boycotting corporations whose managers supported candidates you oppose may feel good, but the positive action to take isn't buying blue, it's buying local. And that's just the first step.

Jeff Milchen directs ReclaimDemocracy.org, a non-profit organization working to restore citizen authority over corporations.

He originally wrote this article for TomPaine.com.

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