24 May 2004 @ 11:53, by Craig Lang
Note: this is the first of two postings on my adventures and misadventures within the state Democratic party machine. This one is a very positive posting and describes the sense of optimism and the powerful winds of change that we all felt there.
The next one will look at some of the issues that I saw, and more about how change is needed.
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This was the biannual statewide collection of DFL delegates (the DFL party - stands for Democratic Farmer Labor party). It was a three day event (actually Saturday, plus a bit on Friday night and finishing any remaining business on Sunday) consisting of a mix of serious business, socializing and powerful political energy.
What I saw really was powerful. There is an anger there, an energy which is more powerful than anything I have ever seen. This is the route to change. It is how we clean house in this nation. And in the end, it is how (at least I hope) that we govern ourselves.
The phrase that the Kucinich campaign used there was "Fear Ends, Hope Begins". And this is what I sensed, all throughout the campaign. One friend of mine, who is a quite a student of history, made the comparison of the politics of 2004 with the politics of 1932.
1932 was a time in which we had leadership which no longer worked. We were in the depths of despair. The economy had collapsed and poverty was an rapidly expanding epidemic in our nation. Yet our leaders at the time (The Hoover administration) were percieved as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. It was time for change - and change we did.
There is that sense in the air again this year. We are in a war that began with a lie, a "jobless recovery", and dire environmental peril. There is again the sense that our leaders are more part of the problem than of the solution. So the sense was that the time for change is here and, if we play our cards right then change we will.
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