It all begins with the Committee People....

A political organization is like an army. To win you need a united front of foot soldiers that are called Committee-people. These volunteers are the backbone and the most powerful people in an organization. Without them there would be no elected officials.

This position has to be taken seriously and worked with passion. A committee person is an should be the King &/or Queen of their district. In most cases they are the people who candidates will rely on because the know the people who vote and the people to see in their district.

I am proud to be an elected Supervisor but I am also proud to be an elected committeeman in my district. As a committeeman I get to help others get elected and have met State Reps, State Senators, Congresspeople etc. Why? Because they need a committee person knowledge of the territory to win.

Some people want to bypass this elected position and go to the top. They always realize eventually that without the committee person's help it is an uphill battle.

So if you want to get involved and want to be respected in your organization, start where the power really is. Become that all important committee person - the candidates need you.

Pass it on!!!!

Well intentions fade away quickly

I am sure that whenever someone new throws their hat into the political ring they have all the intentions of standing up to those, elected officials they feel are weak and bowing to the status quo.  Most may feel that veteran politicians are always worried about who will and who won't vote for them and they eventually sell their soul for the vote count.

Well righteous newcomer, it will only be a matter of time before you will be looking out the same progression of events.  You may have those fights with the establishment for your first few years while you are making you bones; but when it comes time for you to even consider reelection you will start looking at what blocks of voters are more - the ones you came to the dance with or the ones you need to make happy.

When this time comes and if you are true to your convictions, just pick up a book called "Profiles in Courage" and see what some heroes sacrificed for the sake of their political careers.  Doing the right thing could be easy but the wrong or safe thing is always easier.  Which will you choose?  After you have addressed that then you can call yourself a politician or a public servant....

Political Enemy.... Or Ally......

During a political campaign of in the world of politics in general...

Remember those who may need your assistance in the future and use it as leverage to get what you may need at the moment.

Never let a political enemy know they are an enemy, because they may be an ally sometime in the future. Sometimes you may agree with that so called enemy and then forge an alliance. Stranger things have happen when looking to defeat a common threat....   

In control of the group...

Being the carnival barker that he is, Donald Trump is in more control of the other candidates then the Koch brothers.  By controlling the agenda he has the others watching him and trying to figure out how to handle his popularity.

At the moment even the heavyweights don't want to answer any hard questions unless they know what The Donald has said and how it was received.  Trump is controlling their dialogue and thoughts, and by doing so we will get more puppets and polly parrots.    Unless, if someone in the Republican party stands up to this  bully they will have the feeling that "If you can't beat him then join him"....   And even if he is not the candidate with his popular spoutings he has bought the candidates without donating a dime.....

Why is it a bad thing?

Why is it a bad thing to be for the working people and if you are, you are called a socialist?    Well if wanting working class (middle class when I grew up) to be able to support themselves with a living wage and to be able to enjoy the finer things in life for, them and their children, is being a socialist then so be it.

I guess I see it another way and, that is, that caring about people; and don't label that as giving handouts; and wanting to see all people have a good quality of life is what government should be about.  Most people who believe in this form of democracy grew up in a time when people cared and we actually had neighborhoods and not homes groupe with strangers. 

Now we have a group of millionaires (535) who tell us what working people should be doing and how they should be living.  These same people were elected by the working class people to represent they, but then they get caught up in their own interests and padding their own pockets and forget about the people who put them there until it is time for re-election.  This has to stop.  Elected officials were not meant to go into office to become rich, but rather to be trusted and respected.  

This is called "Progressives Speak Out" - well maybe instead of progressing we need to look where we came from before the bloated fat cats took over Washington and every othere local municipality in the country.  There was a time when people could run for office because they could and wanted to - not because they had millions of dollars backing them.  There is a saying the "you get what you pay for", but at the moment the only ones getting what the pay for are the rich, both Democrats and Republicans.

Progressives / Socialist or should I say Humanists need to revolt at the voting booth and bring things back to the working class.  The rich will always get richer - but it is about time that the working class had the chance to become rich also.  Let us eliminate the 'Have's and Have Not's"  and make it the "Have's and Can Become"....    Now why would this be a bad thing????

How progressive is Donald Trump?

Ok ok stop laughing but there is plenty to consider when you really think about the questions.  Take away his arrogance, his showmanship, his retoric and what you may find is a true progressive.

The Donals, as he has been known to call himself, could be on the verge of being the frontrunner of the Republican party but what one must remember is that deep down inside he was  liberal Democrat.  Taking that into efffect you will realize that some of his stands are that of a progressive.

He feels that Wall Street has ruined the country with its greed and not paying for its crimes.   This is of course also a stand of some Democratic progressives as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.  If these two warriors against Wall Street hold the same stand as Donald then again where does that put Donald.

He is for and holds no anomisty against same sex marriages and somewhat supports gay and lesbian rights.  Now how does that sound for a conservative blowhard,  he seems to still have a liberal streak about him.

He speaks out about the powers to be.  He isn't afraid to call anyone out on any topic.  Now all be it at times he is over the top but then again at times he is saying what some of us would like to say but are to scared or is it politically correct to say sucn things.  A progressive would make the same attacks on the Washington elite (maybe not as severe) as the Donald has been doing against Bush, Perry, Walker and to the exreme even McCain.  He doen't seem to hold to the Ronald Reagan 11th commandment of "Do not speak badly of another Republican",  which again leads one to wonder.

He has also exposed the hypocracy about the whole election process by his brash statements.  He admis that because of his wealth he can say such things because he doesn't have to worry about the rath of big money donors.  Because he don't have to bow to he buyers of he Presidency he can say what he believes to be true.  Now this alone is the Donald's own way of declaring that there should be  campaign finance reform - and if so we will get the true truth out of our candidates.

Now I am not saying that the progressives would even want this shock showman to join its club;  but they should just be prepared that he does make points that maybe progressives could fine tune and incorporate in some platform.

So the next time you even take the time to listen to him speak, just close your eyes and say to yourself is that Bernie or Elizabeth.   Then slap yourself and realize that yes thoses words were coming out of the mouth of Donald Trump......

No more Mitt

Well everyone the suspense is over and that political powerhouse Mitt Romney has declared - no presidency for him.  Someone finally woke him up from his dream and our nightmare and let him know that he would go down as the most losing candidate (well Ralph Nader not included) of the two party system.  He simply had no idea of how to deal with the common working class.  How can he identify with an unemployed person, or someone who may be losing their home because the big thieving banks were to be to fail?

Now let's look at the remaining headliners on both sides.  Honestly none of them would have the common man identity about them.   Clinton, Bush are just dynasties who are owned by Wall Street.... They just cater to Main Street at election time.  Christie can only identify with big mouth bullies and makes East Coast pols look like cast members of the Sopranos.... Heck lets even include Cuomo in that type casting....   Now Biden and Warren are the real deal and would fight for Main Street but without Wall Street money how can they compete except for appealing to good old fashion populist politics;  and YES it could be done.  After all the 99% are more than the 1% - and although the 1% has the money they can only vote once in the voting booth.

So even though it is good riddance to rich boy Mitt we still have to but up with two continual presidential families,  some blow hard bullies, or under financed progressives....  Heck I haven't even gotten to "I never finish a term" Palin, or that holier then thou Huckabee....  Wow thank god I get involved in local politics - now thats where our lives are truly effected...

Respect All and try to Understand....

In recent months there has been many disturbances between the regular citizenry and the police departments throughout much of the country.  This should not be anything new and shocking.  During the recent holiday week i have been watching many documentaries and there has always be a somewhat distrust between the police and even the regular law abiding citizens.  People just seem to look at a person differently when they are wearing a badge and gun.  And one must say that at times i am sure the the police look at all people as potential criminals.

Now i am not saying that this is always the way.  I feel that the police should be looked at as regular members of the community whose job is to "Serve and Protect" but at times they have been put into positions in which they are arresting those that they should be protecting.

The Civil Rights Movement,  the Anti Vietnam protests - the 1969 Democratic Convention are just a few of clashes that the police have had with the regular public.  Now when i say regular public i mean people who are or really no danger except to the egos of those of authority.  These samples of bloody clashes have cause some distrust of how people will be handled during certain gatherings.   We all must realize that we are all in this - the right to protest - together and no one should fear that civil disagreement with get them a wack of the billy club and treated like a criminal.

Also the police are our protectors and deserve respect;  but then again everyone no matter who they may be deserves respect.  Although we will not always get along with each other it may be time to understand each other and what turmoils some have gone thru.  Restraint and patience will go a long way when trying to reason out what that other person is thinking when disagreeing with one another.

Community is what is most important.  We are all part of one and belong to one.  This is what we must all realize before anger and violence over comes us.  We must all respect our community and the people in it whether they be the police or protesters they are people that you will see again after all the dust has settled.  Would you want to be able to look them in the eye know that all you have done was to agree to civilly disagree.