Hello, you know me; I'm a political pragmatist. I'm the guy or woman who knocked on your door last July, and again in October. You didn't see me in September, but I was the one who stuck some literature for you read between the screen door and the jamb. I hope you took the time to read it.
Sorry I interrupted your dinner last Tuesday, but I was the one who called to make sure we could count on your vote in the primary. When you said yes, we talked about you getting engaged with the campaign--just a few hours a week calling folks, remember? Yeah, we met down at the union hall and we phonebanked together. Will you come down again and help us in general? Those ballot measures are really important, too, you know. Can you bring a friend?
But it was more than that, wasn't it? You told me about the school board race. You said that there were several candidates to stay away from, even though they sounded as though they were strong advocates of public education. We both learned something from each other that night.
I learned that you were an avid supporter of a Jane Williams, the Democratic challenger to our current state house member--himself a Democrat--who seems to vote with the Republicans on social issues. I got the incumbent invited to our local Democratic town committee meeting, and after some niceties about how he's doing his best to keep jobs in our district, we hit him hard on his vote outlawing domestic partner benefits for public employees. I'm glad you decided to run for the town committee board; I think you'll do a great job.
I think you know my friend Cynthia; she's on the school board and is the chair of the town committee. She and I go way back. We used to walk precincts together for Carter in the '70s. She can teach you a lot about local political climate, as there's not much that's happened around here in last three decades that she hasn't seen first-hand. And passionate about Democratic politics and liberal causes? You won't find anyone more interested in advancing our ideals. You said your daughter is a political science major. That's great. Talk to Cynthia; she's tight with our congressman, and I'm sure Deb can get an internship in his office for the summer. Yeah, two months in DC; she'll love it.
But hey, there's more work to be done, too. I told you that there may be a push to get an equal marriage proposal on the ballot. I know how much that means to you. I'm on the steering committee, and I'd like you to meet our political director. She's astounding; been involved in politics on all levels--even knocked off a few incumbents in her day. Hell, she's probably forgotten more about political history and electoral politics than any ten people you're likely to run into can hope to remember.
I talked to her last week, and she's looking to put together a proposal to submit to the state central committee, but they're hesitant; they don't think the timing's right. What she needs is someone with passion--someone like you--to explain just how passing this amendment will affect the lives of real people. Don't worry about the politics of it--that's her game--we need someone who can speak to the party regulars from the heart.
Hey, what's the matter? Am I moving you through all this too fast? Don't worry. No one expects you to do more than you're capable of. That's why we talk like this: I get you involved where your strengths and passions are, and you help me by hooking me up with others who can help.
Remember last week when you introduced me to your co-worker, David? Well, I called him as you suggested, and I'm pleased to tell you that he's agreed to be on the host committee for a house party I'm throwing as a campaign fundraiser for our congressman. Yeah, of course you're invited, and no, you don't have to give hundreds of dollars like David and a few of his friends are. No way. Whatever you can give will be wonderful; $25.00 is perfect. Just show up and listen to Gary talk about the issues and make sure you talk with the other guests. It's all about getting more informed, making contacts and keeping folks interested in the issues--not just the candidates.
Oh, and bring your son, Bill. You know how he's spending all that time on the computer blogging? Well, Gary's communications director and internet outreach team will be there, maybe Bill would like to get more involved with political blogging. There's a great deal of value that comes out of that, too.
Wait, what are you doing? Taking out a pen and paper? You don't need to write this down. After a while it will be like second nature. You'll see. Well, on second thought, for right now maybe you better write this down. I haven't even told you about GOTV week yet. How much time do you have? Not a lot? Okay, I'll save that for later, because I haven't even talked about what happens after we get our people elected; that's only half the battle.
Once they're in we have to keep 'em in line--right, so they don't end up like that state rep and go DINO on us. Then we have to call their offices when important legislation is coming to the floor--if not before then, you got it. We need to let them hear it when it looks like they may be caving. And, yes, that can be a pain trying to convince some staffer that you know more about the issue than he does and that you need the congressman's vote or that you need him to show up to speak to a group that he needs to hear from (and who can help him, too).
The off-season? There is no off-season. Yeah, we slow down after elections--it's not always so harried, but we who do this sort of thing are at it to greater or lesser extent all year long. We read--endlessly--political tracts, white papers, monographs, books, magazines. Hell, we even read the other side's stuff. There's no better way to defeat an opponent than to know his case better than he does. So, what else? We watch symposiums, attend forums--I swear if I heard Tom Mann or Norm Ornstein cough, I'd recognize who it was--we write letters to the editor, write letters to elected officials of all sorts, we contribute to community blogs, volunteer at seniors' homes and farmers' markets, we try to convince our neighbors far and wide of the validity of our causes. And through it all we find what is possible, what works, where to compromise, and how to win.
We have local interests, too. Our friend Diane, for example, is running a farm-to-school program to get better food choices in the schools and help out our local farmers by increasing their local markets. I'm on the board of a local group that does wildlife habitat restoration projects. I've testified before the state legislature on issues that affect the environment, and our group has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund our work--and, yes, I am just as passionate in that as I am in my politics. Mary and Dave attend weekly peace vigils and helped organize the local anti-war rallies.
The point is, that there are numerous ways for you and I to be effective. Having ideas and hueing to them without compromise will always get you an audience, but it will be the rare occasion when it--without the pragmatics--will get you what you're looking for in the end. That type of thing can be self-satisfying, sure. People will praise you for the righteousness of your cause and the passion you bring to it--and all that's good if what you're looking for is to say that you fought the good fight and went down swinging. But me, I'd rather know the ideal, see what I have to do to get there, and work every angle I can to see as much of it come about as possible. That doesn't mean I believe in the ideal any less; it just means that I'm willing to accept (if only for now) that 75% of everything is a helluva better than 100% of nothing--no matter how true we were to our cause, and no matter how loud we yelled for it.