If you are like most of us in the great blue state of New York, each morning this week has been hard. We are feeling stunned, scared, powerless, and kind of like we woke up in our worst nightmare. (At least we voted morally in New York as a whole.) So today I said to myself, WWCCD? What would the Christian Coalition do? (I was a stealth spy on their organization as they were forming in the early 1980's in Colorado. They took all their good lessons from the left in the 1960's and 1970's and put them to work.) They would call a huddle, eat some comfort food, and regroup. (I am skipping the prayer part. I am not doing that. You can if you want.)
Here is what I am going to do:
This Thursday night, I am having a party at my house. I am inviting all my friends who worked their fingers to the bone on this campaign doing voter registration, canvassing, GOTV, election protection, poll monitoring, phoning, etc. I am telling them to bring one of the following: a great bottle of wine, a super nice soft drink, a fine cheese with crackers, OR the best appetizer they know how to make. I am encouraging people to dress up and feel special. We are going to celebrate our community AND ...
We are going to pick a couple of small local issues we can adopt right now and make a difference on. Our local community needs to know we are here, we are effective and we care. Next, we are all going to share our pain and hope and tales. Next, we are going to focus on all the small offices we can take back or take over: school boards, local reps, county elections, etc. Then we are going to have sign-up sheets for issues, skills we have, things we can do. We are going to identify our special resources. We have some of the best experts on health care and the environment right here in town. We have legal historians, lawyers, people who know how to go door to door. We have people who can teach public speaking. We have people who know how to run campaigns. WE HAVE LOADS OF TALENT!
Then we are going to commit to doing this about every six to eight weeks. Party time! We need community. We need teams to be built. We need to help each other.
Then we are going to dance like its 2008!
I urge ALL of you to do this too, in the next ten days. Plan a party. Grab that community while it is there and sharing in a common feeling. I invite you to post party ideas and suggestions here on this diary. (Can you recommend this?) If you plan to throw a party, tell us about it.
I am putting my middle aged dancing shoes on. I am takin' my country back, one artichoke cheese dip at a time.