I was strolling on Grand Avenue the other night and happened to meet
Aimee Allison, her husband...and their fast asleep child as they left campaign headquarters here in Oakland. Aimee is a candidate for an Oakland City Council seat that is being voted
right now in a special mail-in election.
I can't tell you how impressed I was with her. I know folks in the rest of the country will be, like, Aimee who?...but if you have any interest in learning about a candidate that I am convinced will go far...and is exactly the kind of force we need right now...maybe even a future candidate for, uh, higher office...and if you are a Bay Area resident interested in the goings on here in Oakland...well, read on!
First off, Aimee is a Green. I think that's not just a good thing. I think that's a great thing.
Oakland City Council elections are non-partisan...and in a city where, ahem, our Mayor, Jerry Brown, raises more ire from progressives than joy....Aimee would be, if elected, a crucial vote in tipping the balance on the council against the "cooperative" nature of Jerry...cooperative with big development $$$, that is.
I'll be straight up, I think the Green challenge to urban Democratic politics with candidates like Aimee...and Matt Gonzalez in San Francisco....is a good thing. Ultimately, we are not warring with each other, we are holding each other accountable. As a Democrat, I can say if the Greens field candidates like Aimee and Matt in local elections....I will vote for them when I can...and I have, with pride.
Second, Aimee is extraordinarily impressive in person. She has energy, even at 9PM, she's smart....she's real...and she has the guts to speak her mind in no uncertain terms, whether on city politics or the nature of campaigning. It's rare you meet a politician who doesn't talk like one. Even rarer to meet one who cuts to the core...and really engages with you. Aimee is like that.
Let me put it this way. Meeting her, I felt what folks in Illinois might have felt when they first met Senator Barack Obama when he was running for his first elected office. Elect this woman to something, please!
I know this comes off as fluff, but let's put it this way. How many times to you get to cast a true anti-war vote when you vote for city council?
The race is one hell of a mass of candidates with competing endorsements, philosophies and constituencies...
a Green might, like in previous races in the Bay Area....not quite overcome voters tendency to go with "any Dem" in Oakland over a Green...
but, if it means anything to folks here, at a recent straw poll conducted among the members of the local DFA there was a consensus choice, however....and her name was Aimee Allison.
If you live here and want to have an impact on a race where some extra volunteer energy in the final days might make the difference...I'd check out her website for info on volunteering....
I could be full of it, but
a) I can guarantee if you get a chance to meet her...you'll be glad you did.
b) I can't guarantee that she'll go as far as I hint....but...
count me as impressed.