photo credit: elycefeliz
I woke up this morning incredibly frustrated. The fact that I am not a state delegate as I had hoped to be is a surprisingly small part of the reason for my frustration. The majority of my frustration is with the way the caucus meeting was held and conducted. I’ll skip the details for today but if you want to get an idea read Tyler Riggs’ caucus experience – it’s remarkably similar to mine.
If you had asked me yesterday I would have told you that professional or career politicians were at the root of our political problems at all levels of government. As of this morning I’m convinced that political novices are either aiding and abetting them or else giving them a run for their money regarding how much damage they can do to the cause of good government.
As much as I love becoming informed and discussing political issues, the experience from last night had me briefly flirting with the idea that I might abandon the field and leave the mess to some other sucker. Instead I got up this morning (because I could not go back to sleep) while my county party leaders were almost certainly still awake and trying to record the information (such as the names of attendees) from the caucuses. As I wrestled with my frustration I determined that I would not let this pass. Starting today I will pursue a crusade for freedom in which we will reform the way such grassroots participation as precinct caucus meetings take place. We will turn them into events that people in the community are comfortable attending and make politics a subject of widespread public discussion as it should be rather than being, with religion, one of the taboo subjects that are not discussed in polite company.
I am under no illusion that this will be easy but I will start with the Bountiful 18 precinct. I will start today and within two years, by the time of the 2012 caucuses, the harried and frantic atmosphere will be replaced with one of thoughtful and spirited, but civil debate conducted in an efficient and trustworthy manner.
Join me in my quest or start your own quest in your own precinct. I’ll be documenting my efforts, ideas, successes, and failures here.
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