I placed an ad on craigslist about 6 weeks ago

[Droopy]

I said that I wanted to start a political discussion group and that I wanted to meet people in person. I wanted to make new friends in the process of raising awareness about issues that I care about. I said that I was a liberal, but that all political views were welcome. I've got several books and DVDs here that I wanted to loan out to people. I said that we should meet in public initially and once we got to know each other I thought it would be cool if we all got together at someone's house and watched a documentary and then talked about it afterwords.

Well, I didn't get a reply until about a week ago. The guy described himself as a left leaning Republican- social liberal/fiscal conservative. After a couple of short e-mails to each other he asked me to go into detail about what my ideas for the group were and also to describe my views in more detail. So I did and I haven't heard from him since. I'm thinking he probably thought I was loony when I said that my big issue was the corporate influence in politics. Would that scare you off?

[yewberry]

1. Droopy! Hi!

Hey, it's nice to see you.

Well, it's a little hard to say if that might freak me out. I'm a woman, and am very wary of meeting strangers, but your description of your views wouldn't make me blink.

Hey, there are four chapters of 'Drinking Liberally' in Ohio. http://drinkingliberally.org/ Are any of those near you?

[Droopy]

3. I don't drink now days. I'm on a diet.

But the closest chapter to me is in Cincinnati which is about 40 miles away. That would make for an awfully expensive cab ride!

BTW, I thought about people not wanting to meet at someone's house right away and suggested that we should meet in a public place to start things off. I wouldn't think that would be any scarier than going out on a date with someone for the first time.

[yewberry]

5. Could you try to start a group in, say, an indie coffeehouse?

There must be some little lefty cafe or coffeehouse that would welcome a weekly discussion group, no? You might be able to take advantage of local libraries or colleges for space to have DVD showings and to stir up interest.

Good luck, Droopy. I hope you find some connections!

[Droopy]

6. I'm afraid Dayton, Ohio's idea of an indie cafe is Starbucks :)

There could be some places like that around here, but I don't know of any. Now the library or even better the colleges, that might work.

[Omphaloskepsis]

2. Going to a persons house that I met on Craigslist would scare me off..

I would be cool with buying a TV.. Social things, not so much.

I would suggest meeting over dinner in a public place. Maybe a bar.

[Droopy]

4. Yes, I suggested that we should meet in public to start things off

I will edit my op.

[xchrom]

7. no -- there are republick party peopel who are concerned about

corporate influence.

you probably need to post the ad a few times to get many responses -- and you already said you wanted to meet publicly at first.

you might try e-mailing this guy again and see if he is still interested.