Let us see you to win in 2014. Stop looking over your shoulder. I mean you.
I trust most you you reading this remember Wisconsin’s Sen Bob Wirch. He was one of the “Fab 14” who relocated to IL as a de facto filibuster against the WI GOP’s efforts to blitz through their union-busting law. One night a couple weeks ago this same man stood up at our county-level Democratic Party meeting and urged the members there to run for office and/or to recruit people to run.
I am here to do the same thing. It is time to strip off the keyboard commando camouflage and to don the business attire. Run for office. City council, county board, school board, township supervisor, sanitary district commissioner, what have you.
Public office is not for everyone, and it does take a lot of time. If you cannot seek an elected office in government, seek out an officer position in your local Democratic Party organization, or local activist chapter. But please, do not make that your default choice. Start off by thinking hard about elected office.
There are thousands of low-level offices filled every year and they are filled largely by schmoes just like you and I. These low-level offices produce the recruits for city-wide and county-wide offices. Then the best at this level head on to state assemblies or even state-wide office.
This is exactly how the Republicans have done it. This is why that minority party holds its disproportionate influence over public policy. They support one another and get candidates into those school boards and municipal panels. We’ve all sat here watching the videos, facepalming ourselves at the local GOP obstructionists. We’ve all cheered on that lone local Democrat standing in the way of the loons.
There’s a moral buried in there somewhere but so often we fail to see it.
Don’t listen to me, listen to Sen Wirch. We all remember sheering him on. Well, he wants you to do more than cheer. He’s asking you to step up. And the younger you are, the more this applies to you. If you are in your 20s or 30s you have the time to rise as high as your skills and good fortune allow. Oldsters such as myself probably don’t have the time to advance much in office, but that’s OK too. There’s no dishonor in a career working where the rubber meets the road.
And yes, I am taking my own advice. Coincidentally the very same day I last posted anything on the Great Orange Satan it crossed my mind to try for office. The one did not lead to the other, but getting away from the keyboard did free up time I’ve since put to far better use.
Stat attending school board meetings, city and county council meetings, planning committee and police commission meetings. Find how how your local government operates and when they meet. Start speaking up during the public input periods.
Do not sell yourself short. You are armed with a powerful weapon: information. You are the demographic which has refused the lure of apathy. You will find out that your knowledge of the issues will impress those that listen. And as you listen you will discover others who impress you. You and your new friends will share a cup of coffee. You will be on your way.
Oh, and one other thing. Don’t keep this message to yourself. Let those who can run, run. Let those who cannot recruit. This is our democracy so let’s all act on it.
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