[UPDATE:] The post on the DFL listserve followed up on a response, largely quoted
here, to an aggressively anti-choice member of the list, in defense of and respect for the fundamental right of individual choice.
I am a member of a listserve of active DFLers in Minnesota (in Minnesota the party is the
Democratic-Farmer-Labor party - a whole 'nother diary's worth of info..). As can be expected, there's been a long discussion on the issue of abortion, prevention, pro-Choice, pro-Life, exurbia/rural voters, etc...
Last week, I finally chimed in. I ran for the Minnesota House in 2004, coming within fewer than 1,000 voters of victory (out of 24,500+ votes cast). I was able to begin turning around an increasingly conservative area, with a great showing, an energized campaign, and lots of volunteers - 450 total, where only 3 or 4 people were attending DFL meetings. Had it not been for my opponent's near-fatal butcher-shop accident 6 weeks before the election, I may be the tie vote in the Minnesota House.
More info below the fold....
I will definitely be running again, and it's going to be a very hard-fought close race in 2006. One reason for my optimism is my ability to shift the focus of the conversation on individual rights/liberties, vis-a-vis abortion. As a result of my post on the Minnesota list, and referencing the 'Kalin Amendment', several people asked for more information about the amendment.
During the campaign, the only legislative promise I made to my constituents was to offer the Kalin amendment to every piece of legislation affecting beginning of life issues. I stand behind that promise this campaign as well. I'm most comfortable sharing the general intent of the amendment at this point. I'm revisiting specific language until after the 2006 session; frankly, campaigning at all with an already-drafted piece of legislation sometimes feels premature.
Broadly, the Kalin amendment says:
Our primary focus in Minnesota should be minimizing and ending the need for abortion in our state. To achieve this goal, our emphasis should be on 3 main areas:
- FOCUS ON PREVENTION of unintended pregnancies - at home, in our extended families, at places of worship, throughout the community and at school.
- Ensuring that we TEACH RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION - the responsibilities and consequences of being in mature, adult relationships. From my own public school experience (comparing it with later experiences as a high school educator and volunteer), all I can recall is the sex education component.
- Continuing to MAKE ADOPTION A MORE VIABLE OPTION in Minnesota.
Rep. Katie Sieben has introduced
legislation fairly similar to my amendment, and (pro-Life) U.S. Senator Harry Reid has
a similar bill in Congress (with important exceptions to the Sieben Bill and my own effort).
Doorknocking my exurban/suburban/rural district (at least 12,177 doors) I often experienced the following phenonmenon. I'd tell them why I'm running ("to be a strong, independent voice standing above the partisan bickering so we can tackle issues like Property Taxes, Health Care and our Schools"), and we'd have a pretty good conversation for 2 or 3 minutes. I could see their mind running as we spoke. Hundreds of times they'd pause and ask...
Voter: "So... what party are you?"
Me: "I'm a Democrat."
Voter: "I used to be a Democrat until about 15 years ago."
Me: "What happened?" (knowing where this was going, usually)
Voter: "Well, I just think you guys have gone too far."
Me: "On what issue?"
Voter: "Well, I have just one question for you.... How do you feel
about abortion."
Me: "I don't like it. It makes my stomach sick."
We'd talk about the issue and I'd tell them about the Kalin amendment. More than a dozen times, they'd call to their spouse inside the house, "Honey, honey! Come here! Jeremy Kalin's here - he's a Democrat and he's pro-Life!"
As you can imagine, I wasn't comfortable leaving them with an inaccurate impression about how I'll vote in the House. I told them that I'm prochoice because of my libertarian position on inidividual rights, but that I'll always offer
the amendment, because I know that's where we all agree: Working to end the need for abortion in Minnesota.
Moderate but pro-choice Loren Jennings represented our district for 9 terms in the House. In what is now 17B (my district), his numbers were slowly dropping like most of our
collar counties. Growth had something to do with it, but Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life's (sic... they say nothing about protecting babies once born) push had a lot to do with it as well.
I am fairly certain that I was the first Democrat in over a decade for whom many of these pro-life ex-Dems voted. Were it not for my opponent's near-fatal accident 6 weeks before the election (and the sympathy vote) I may have been the tie vote in the House.
What lesson have I gained from the experience? I think our exurban "swing" or "disaffected" voters are looking for candidates who they can trust, who they know personally (through the community or doorknocking), who share their perspective on bread-and-butter economic issues like Health Care, Property Taxes, Education and Transportation, and who the voters trust are not raving lunatic bleeding-heart-liberals (a little humor for us all).
The saying "Nobody cares what you know unless they know that you care" rings true for me. Voters decide on emotion. They're not "lazy" or "stupid." The majority of voters make their decision based on emotional and intuitive "gut" feelings. It's our responsibility and challenge to connect with them on that level.
It doesn't mean selling out. It doesn't mean Republican lite. It means being sincere, genuine and authentic. It means not being afraid to let people know who we are and how we feel. It means assuring voters that we'll stand up and fight for them, and stand up and fight for our own integrity as well.
This became a much longer post than I intended. My apologies. Thanks for 'listening.' I look forward to any feedback. Of course, I wouldn't object to mojo in the form of a small contribution but that's not why I wrote this diary.