My first MyDD diary yesterday (Why Moderates Resent Progressives, which I'm stunned to find atop the Most Recommend list tonight) sparked some inquiries about how ordinary citizens made real, progressive change in the small city and rural county where I live.

The following is in response to several readers' requests for more details of how we prevailed, and specifically to a very thought-provoking post at janinsanfran's blog which she linked to in the comments.

In fact, this new diary is actually the text of a very long email I sent to Jan this afternoon. While lengthy, it is just the tip of the iceberg of what we learned -- the hard way -- about winning at the grassroots level.

Jan found a terrific piece by early Apple Computer booster Guy Kawasaki in which he gives pithy advice to startup businesses -- which Jan then applied to her own work advising citizens on how to "Win from the Outside." The full text of the message to Jan follows after the jump. Kawasaki's original suggestions are in plain text, Jan's comments are in italics, and my responses are in bold.

There's more...