Hi All,
This is my first diary for Daily Kos. All my life, I've been a lurker. A loner. An "army of one." Take a large dose of cynicism, add the dislocation from a lifetime of moves to different parts of country and top it off with awkward peer relationships leading to crippling social anxiety and you have a thoroughly atomized individual. Why am I telling you this?
I've been interested in progressive politics for my entire adult life. I would attend demonstrations (alone). I wrote letters to the editor, made phone calls to my representatives and did a lot of anger posting on Internet message boards (you may have seen some on this very site!) However, in spite of these efforts, I felt pretty powerless. What do I really have to show for these efforts? So, despite forty-four years of precedent, I've decided to move thoroughly outside my comfort zone and become a joiner. Not just a joiner, but an organizer!
If any of this sounds familiar, somewhere in your community, there is probably already a group of good people working on issue advocacy that wants and needs your help. If not, you can do what I'm doing and start your own chapter! Meetup.com makes this very easy. Imagine if we had an active organization of progressives in every metro region in the nation, engaging in a coordinated campaign of pressure to pass progressive legislation! Imagine if we also used that organization to nominate and elect progressives to state, local and federal government! Poll after poll shows that there are lots of people in America (a majority on most issues) who agree with us, but many of them feel isolated and alone and don't know how to make their dreams a reality. I know, I was one of them. What if we found a way to locate and engage them? The last election was a clear example of the apathy that results when voters don't feel their interests are being represented by the Democratic party. We can change that by changing the Democratic party. But here's the thing...that's only going to happen if regular people like you and me step up and do it. Will you join me?
Let me close by saying that I truly believe that members of Daily Kos are some of the most decent and civic-minded people in this nation and I've been very inspired and moved by diaries and posts I've read here. Many of you have already been involved in this work for years. For those of you who are considering getting started, it's not as scary as you might imagine and it doesn't have to consume your whole life. You can make a meaningful contribution in as little as one hour a month. Whoever you are and whatever you do, thank you!
p.s. If anyone reading this is in the Portland area, I could sure use your help starting up the PDX chapter of Progressive Democrats of America!