A few weeks ago I moved to the small town of Independence, Virginia — a picturesque town high in the mountains in the southwestern part of the state. This is Trump country: heavily Republican, with an aging population and not many economic opportunities. But the hiking and natural beauty are great!
After Trump’s inauguration, I decided to get involved in the local Democratic Party. I’ve been blogging about politics for years, but I felt it’s time for me to do more than just talk. This is a gravely serious time for our nation, when everyone, I believe, has a moral duty to participate in the electoral process to try to defeat the neo-fascist movement that Trump and his new Republican Party represent — before it utterly destroys our democratic republic.
So I went to a meeting of the Grayson County Democratic Party at the courthouse in Independence. That was two weeks ago, and I was told it was the best attended meeting they’ve had in years. Nearly 30 people were there, which apparently is a higher level of activity than they’re used to. There were older women wearing pussyhats. Everyone felt the gravity of the moment. It is a time when the world has been turned upside down by a madman with a bad orange toupee; it is thus a time when we, the people, must rise and set things right.
George Haydt had served as Chairman of the Grayson County Dems for the past eight years. As he later told me, he was able to persuade an elderly man to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 even though that man said, “I like him, but I just can’t vote for a n*gger.” By President Obama’s second term, that man was defending him from slanderous attacks by Republicans. I salute Mr. Haydt for his persuasive abilities and his long-time leadership of the Democratic Party in this area.
Chairman Haydt donned a pink pussyhat and opened the meeting, and announced that he was stepping down from his position. The party needed new blood, and he asked for anyone who wanted to speak. I decided to say a few words.
I told the Grayson Dems that I was a Bernie supporter, a young guy (37 years old) with a career background in technology, startup companies, and the nonprofit sector. I was here in Trump country to see if I could make a difference, because I had come to believe that if Democrats can’t win votes in rural and small-town America, this county is doomed. The system is rigged through gerrymandering, the Senate and the Electoral College to ensure that rural America is over-represented in government compared to the big-city progressive Democratic strongholds.
So, as I told them, we have to fight here, in places like Grayson County (population 16,000), to persuade people that the policies of Trump and the GOP will only hurt their economic prospects and make their quality of life worse, not better. And we can’t do it with the typical message of the Democratic establishment which has failed. We have to do it with a new message, a message about empowering ordinary people and reclaiming our power from the billionaires and their political allies.
Some people at the meeting urged me to run for Chair, so I did. And I won, unopposed. After living here for one month, I found myself the new leader of the Democratic Party in this county. I am deeply honored to have been entrusted with this responsibility, in such a crucial state (the 2017 elections are huge in Virginia!), at a time of tremendous importance for the future of our county.
I don’t know how successful I will be, but I know what I’m supposed to try to do: recruit candidates to run for office, raise awareness of the Democratic message, and increase voter turnout for Democratic candidates.
I strongly believe, as I said in my speech when I ran for county chair, that this is a time when Democrats must run candidates for every seat, not allowing any elections to go uncontested. Whenever Trump voters decide they’ve had enough of his bullshit and realize that he and his party are destroying our county and jeopardizing their future, they should have Democrats they can vote for, for every office on the ballot. Eventually, things will get bad enough that many of them will change their minds. Maybe in 2017, 2018, or 2020, but whenever that time comes, voters need to have a choice.
One thing I can tell you, from working on the ground here in Grayson County, Virginia, during the past two weeks, is that there are a LOT of people who are fired up and coming out of the woodwork — some of them getting involved in politics for the first time — because of their anger and deep concern about Donald Trump. There are people fearing for their county. There are people worried about nuclear war, and about harsh treatment of immigrants and ethnic and religious minorities. I try to make sure I smile a little larger whenever I see the woman behind the counter wearing a hijab at our local pizza parlor, hoping that enough people make her feel welcome here. I’m sure I’m not the only one doing this.
Donald Trump has brought out the worst in people, but he is also bringing out the best in those who oppose him and everything he stands for.
Last week, 12 Democrats came out to a meeting with the constituent representative of Rep. Morgan Griffith, our Congressman here in southwestern Virginia. Only one Republican showed up — and this is in an 80% Republican county. For two hours, well-informed, highly articulate Democrats bombarded the congressman’s staffer with statements on two main issues:
1. The importance of keeping the Affordable Care Act in place. (As one woman pointed out — I believe accurately — ”There are some people in this county who are so poor they can’t even afford a toothbrush.”)
2. The need for Congress to investigate the conflicts of interest and the Russian connections of President Trump.
We are a small county here, with only a small number of progressives surrounded by Trump voters. But if what’s happening in this county is any measure of what’s happening across America, there is a rising groundswell of ordinary people becoming political. And they are doing so as Democrats.
Wish us luck!