My (previously) Republican town here in NH went for Kerry 59:41. Then today I got this email from another member of my town democratic committee:
Elizabeth:
The Democratic Party considers itself to be the party of the people. Yet, clearly, this belief/message did not get transmitted to "the people" in the recent election. Also, many people didn't believe or didn't want what many Dem candidates were saying/selling. So it seems to me that if we Dems in our town/our district want to improve our position, whether that means our current Representatives holding onto their seats or gaining more seats (as in beating Rep.X), we need to do grass-roots stuff that will serve "the people", thereby demonstrating that we do care for them. We cannot wait for the state party to give us help. The national party won't be of much or any help because it has bigger boils to lance.
As I thought about what our Town Dem Committee can do, I concluded that we must do something of material value, not something for show,
something that people need and will both appreciate and remember in future elections, such that Democratic candidates might have an easier time winning people's votes. While I don't believe in give-away programs, I do believe absolutely in helping people in need, people who otherwise have worked to provide for themselves but who because of circumstances beyond their control, struggle just to make ends meet. So, what then, could our Committee do?
We have a number of people in (my town) who with the astronomical rise in fuel oil prices will have difficulty keeping their homes warm this Winter. I'm thinking principally of those elderly who are on fixed retirement incomes, including the pittance of Social Security, and who now with the added hit of higher real estate taxes because of the recent reassessment, are truly struggling. So, I propose that our Committee develop a fund to provide fuel oil cost assistance to some of these folks. I think that there are some members of our Committee who can afford to contribute a decent amount, say $100.00. Beyond them, there are other Democrats in town, who although not members of our Committee, would contribute if asked. If we were to be able to raise even as little as $2,000, we can help some people.
There is the question of how to decide who gets help and in what amount; in other words, guidelines. I don't have an answer. However, if my proposal were to be discussed by Committee members, I believe that we can come up with ideas. We could invite M.B., Town Y's Welfare Director, to our December meeting to be part of the discussion. I imagine that she could give us some thoughts.
Anyway, if you feel that my idea has any value, you may want to put it on the December meeting's agenda. If you think that this is a screwy idea and not worth the Committee's time, that's OK. I won't be offended.
By separate transmission, I'm sending you a story off today's Yahoo about the surge in oil prices. Crude oil today jumped more than $2.00 a barrel.
Arnold
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041119/bs_nm/markets_oil_dc