Well, I am headed to Nevada tomorrow to spend 5 days canvassing before the caucus. I have no idea what awaits me there. I am truly thankful that the Obama/Clinton truce has been called. It was starting to make me lose faith that the Democratics can take back the White House in the fall, if this is how they conduct their primary. I hope the bloggers and readers of Daily Kos will emulate the candidates in their desire for a more informed and respectful debate.
I would just like to say that for me this election is not about race or gender. And it is not so much about the issues, because the candidates policy goals are nearly identical and they all have great ideas about how to go about solving our problems and restoring America's reputation in the world. The differences in their policy proposals will be moot when the primaries are over and the party will hopefully come together behind one candidate and adopt the best ideas that all the Democratic candidates have offered. And even then, there will be still be many details that will not get hammered out until there are bills going through the Congress.
What matters to me most in this campaign is the message the candidates send to the voters (does it inspire or not?), how they conduct themselves in their campaign, their experience in government and outside of government, their judgement and integrity, their openness and honesty, and their vision for the future. It is this message that I will bring with me to Nevada.
At the age of 56, I am probably a little old to be starting to engage in the real work of political campaigns -- talking to voters door to door and encouraging them to participate in the democratic process. But I am excited and energized. But I do believe in the fierce urgency of now == how absolutely critical this election is to the future of our country.
I am hoping that the teachers union will have withdrawn their lawsuit in the next few days. Teachers don't have to work on Saturday; casino workers do. I think that the easier we make it for people to participate in our democracy, the more robust that democracy will be. No one should seek to block access from participation in elections or caucuses. And no one should try to change the rules at the last minute for any reason.
I appreciated the letter that a select group of teachers in Nevada wrote to the election association on behalf of their students and their students' parents, many of whom work in the casinos. It is hard for me to believe that the lawsuit actually represents the views of teachers in Nevada. My son teaches 5th grade here in CA and he cannot imagine any of the teachers he knows getting behind an action that would prevent the parents of his students from exercising their Constitutional right to participate in the democratic process. In line with Mrs Clinton's statement that we want to focus on the issues, I would hope that she would request that the teacher's union drop the lawsuit and not support the challenge to let the casino workers to participate in the election process. That would be the right thing to do and be in the spirit of reconciliation.
So I will be blogging from NV. Trudging through the snow outside of Reno. Talk to you soon.