Local government has an important impact on our daily lives, and yet so few people will turn out for local government events and elections. I am calling on the members of the dKos community to engage their local governments and show that the netroots can affect real change in communities across the country.
We have all heard the phrase "Think Global, Act Local" and dKos is great about thinking globally on a wide range of issues. Often times, however, observers don't see are work on a grassroots level to support progressive policies in our communities. We need to show our strength in local politics. Some of you, no doubt, will question why we need to visit school board meetings and planning committee sessions when we have such important issues facing us like global warming and Iraq. However, working with local government has several key benefits. These benefits include quality of life improvements, implementing progressive policies on a local level, and supporting emerging Democratic officials.
Local government can have a substantial impact on our quality of life. Many people think first of the Congress when they think of making change, and yet it is our local governments that can affect immediate change. One issue the Arizona State Young Democrats is working on is Sex Education. We're lobbying the governor to support comprehensive sex ed, but we're also lobbying local officials to implement abstinence plus. Another important advance we've had is a tougher DUI law, which helps keep our streets safe. These issues can be best influenced through our local governments.
We all want to support progressive policies, but those policies aren't limited to the federal government. Many of our goals, from social justice to worker's rights to environmental conservation, can be enacted in our local governments. Many cities have moved to reduce their carbon footprint and become carbon neutral. The federal government may be dragging its feet on global warming, but we can help stop the increase in carbon emissions with our towns and cities. Before the federal government increased the minimum wage, scores of municipalities and states enacted living wages to support working families. I know that each of us has our favorite progressives issues, and I challenge you to find an issue in American politics that can not be achieved or helped with local government.
We often speak of electing officials to Congress, but each of those officials had to get their start somewhere, and often that is local government. Before the general election in November, many of us will have city, county and state elections. While these elections may not be as attractive as the Presidential election, but these elections help the careers of tomorrow's senators and presidential candidates. The state representative or city councilperson you help elect could easily go on to higher office. We need to support the pipeline of democrats to make sure we have candidates ready for congress in the future.
I've given a lot of reasons to engage in local government and in the coming days and weeks I want to encourage the conversation of how we can affect change in our local governments. I'll title all of my local government with Act Local, and if you're writing on local government, I encourage you to use the title and tag as well.