This isn’t really a question that requires a factual response, so… I’m here in IMHO.
I’m curious about the organization “Common Cause.” While their website sure makes them sound appealing (given my own feelings) I wanted to hear from others who knew more about them. Do you feel they are effective? Are they truly non-partisan?
I know someone who worked at Common Cause last summer. They’re among the more effective advocacy groups, they pushed really hard for Feingold-McCain and ultimately got it. Also their tracking of who donates what (www.opensecrets.org), is an excellent tool for those who don’t want to wade through tedious FEC reports (everybody). It’s really more of a public service than an advocacy tool, but it’s quite commendable. As for their non-partisanship, it’s fairly solid. The people who work there lean to the left on most issues not related to the organization, sort of how many pro-life organizations have many people who are against gay rights, it’s correlation but not causation. Still, there are conservatives who believe in their cause, and some actually do work there. Still, if you took a poll of who voted for whom in 2000, you’d probably see more people voting for Nader than Bush. You have to keep something in mind. They’re an advocacy group that wants to take power away from advocacy groups, which definitely hinders what they do. All in all, I say they’ve done a good job and have remained fairly nonpartisan considering the circumstances.