There is a movement here (perhaps there always has been; I haven't been here that long) to get more of us actively involved in running for elected office. Instead of just harping on the failed leadership and lamenting the lack of change, we should be that change.
However, this might seem daunting to a lot of us, as the only.
The thing is, what we often forget is that there are far more elected offices than those high profile ones. And winning at the lower levels is just as important as getting our people into the higher-profile offices.
Along this line, I wanted to see what is available where I live.
For example, I live in Philadelphia; most notably our city's mayoral and city council elections are coming up this year.
But there's also even more local offices to run for here. There are committeepeople, members of each party who represent their local ward/division. There are also election officers, who manage the local polling stations on election day. These are all offices where people can run for election, with a relatively low threshold to enter the race.
Having met my division's Democratic committee people, I trust they are good representatives. But I think I can be one too.
The elections for new election officers won't be until 2017. But I am going to make a promise right now to run for one of those offices.
They may be relatively unimportant roles, but the idea of running for any type of elected office is rather terrifying to someone like me, who much prefers to stay in the shadows and blog.
Still, the thought of it is also kind of exciting. Talk to Me at any time in my past life up until a few short years ago, and that Me would never have even imagined running for office of any kind. Then, I found Dailykos, and that all changed.
Getting more good people like our fellow kossacks into office is often fantasized about here, but maybe by setting our sights on lower, more manageable goals, we can begin the small snowball of change which eventually turns into an avalanche of Progressive mobilization.
Here's what I think we need to do first. Compile a list of all possible elected offices to run for in given locations, along with election years, filing requirements, etc etc. I think it's possible with something as simple as a basic spreadsheet that can be openly shared on googledocs, though someone who's good with databases could probably produce a more efficient design.
Once we have such a list, we can start organizing. Getting a commitment from a kossack to run for as many of these as possible. Getting people who are normally lurkers around here, get them motivated to stand up and represent their given localities, and provide much-needed Progressive voices. They get exposure, experience running for office, and we get a greater sense of representation in our imperfect political system.
Dailykos has been a great convergence of political engagement. It is possible to elevate it even more.