Indiana politics is widely viewed as the "epicenter" in this year's battle to control the U.S. House, "with three seats fully in play," as noted in a recent issue of the Howey Political Report.

The races in Congressional Districts 8 and 9 have looked like toss-ups for months now. Then a poll in mid-July by national polling firm Cooper and Secrest Associates showed 2d District Congressman Chris Chocola trailing his Democratic challenger by 10 points, stoking Democratic fantasies of a clean sweep in November.

Similarly, Republican control of the Indiana House is in jeopardy, especially given the surprising decisions in July by incumbents Ralph Ayres (R-Chesterton) and Andy Thomas (R-Brazil) to jump ship. The need to shore up those two fairly reliable Republican seats has sent the state party scrambling and obliged it to pull campaign staff and money away from close races around the state.

Losing the House to the Democrats could scare House Republicans closer to the middle — perhaps under a leader other than Brian Bosma — and create a moderate counterforce to the increasingly hard-right Indiana Senate.

The moral of the story: Citizen involvement is critical this year. It could result in state and national governments significantly less driven by right-wing ideologies.

But training and networking opportunities are needed to equip and integrate an army of new as well as seasoned volunteers.

On Aug. 19, a one-day campaign convention aims to do just that. Co-sponsored by the Indiana Equality Political Action Committee and the Human Rights Campaign, the convention has the longer-term goal of building a progressive super-coalition that will influence Indiana politics for years to come.

"Our work won't be done after the convention or after this election," says Stuart Rosenberg, Regional Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign. "It's the start of something bigger for Indiana."

Despite Rosenberg's extensive campaign experience in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina and Wisconsin, he said: "I've never seen this level of excitement before in a progressive community. We hope to show others around the country that it's possible to build an effective movement not just in blue states but in red states as well."

The convention runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall building on the IUPUI campus. The $20 registration pays for training materials, continental breakfast and lunch.

The trainings, geared for newcomers to the process, will be presented by Grassroots Solutions, a nationally known team with extensive experience in teaching how to leverage limited resources and to build sustainable volunteer-based grassroots programs.

Training sessions cover the full range of campaign activities, from candidate research, volunteer recruitment and how to create and use a voter file to canvassing, phone banking and other topics.

Rosenberg draws special attention to the opening session on how to determine and communicate your message, anchored by Karen Louise Boothe, former Communications Director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

He also highlights the importance of the final session on recruiting and retaining volunteers: "Volunteers are the backbone of progressive movements," says Rosenberg.

Walter Botich, Indiana Equality PAC board member, adds: "We will try to move convention participants immediately into getting involved in area campaigns."

Complementing the trainings are one-hour issue workshops on Environmental Issues, Labor/Privatization, Health Care, Immigration, Reproductive Rights, Civil Rights, Adoption and Foster Care, and Indiana's Discriminatory Marriage Amendment.

Robin Winston, former chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, and Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, have been invited to serve as keynote speakers.

Among the long list of organizations supporting the convention are AFSCME Council 92, Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, Jewish Community Relations Council, Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Indiana, National Association of Social Workers, Hoosiers for Better Government, Planned Parenthood Associates of Indiana, ACLU of Indiana, and several gay and transgender advocacy groups.

"We expect a diverse group of participants who can all learn something from one other," says Botich. "The opportunities for connecting with coalition partners will be significant. Politics makes strange bedfellows. On the surface, the organizations supporting this event might not look like they have much in common, but that's not really the case."

"If we don't have a common goal in 2006," Rosenberg warns, "it won't matter if we agree or not on every issue because we won't have any power to do anything."

Following the convention is an evening fundraiser for Indiana Equality PAC, with Solmonese as the guest speaker.

John Clower can be reached at jclower2@yahoo.com.