Kristine Harley of Sheridan writes:
" I don't agree that neither the Greens nor the right wing is
interested in winning offices--the Christian Coalition exerts power over the
Republican Party way beyond its true membership due to the fact that its
candidates won seats on the PTAs, City Councils, local boards, and low-level
political positions in America. "
Actually, that's not true. The Christian Coalition exerts
power over the Republican Party primarily because, in many states,
their members took control of Republican party positions from the
local caucus level straight to the top. The Christian Coalition has a
dismal record in winning offices. They tend to win PTA, City Council
and local board positions as "stealth" candidates, by trying to hide
their connections to the Christian Right. And if they do get elected,
they often last only one term before they are booted out of office by
aroused and angry voters. The Kansas State Board of Education is an
excellent example of this whole trend.
So the Greens might want to take a page from the Christian
Coalition playbook: take control of DFL party positions, starting at
the city level and work its way up. Of course, to do this you have to
show up at DFL caucuses and convention and more conventions. And as
some of us DFLers (who attend such things) can attest, this is No
Small Cross To Bear.
Or the Greens can do as Brauer suggested and form the
opposition party in Minneapolis. That slot is wide open. We'd even
get a two-party system--what a heckuva deal.
Kristine also writes regarding my front porch encounter with
a political canvassing person:
"No individual should ever be obligated to tell someone else
how he or she voted. That's private. The canvasser, in my opinion,
should have refused to answer on this point. Like one's
religious beliefs, it's nobody else's business."
Well, I certainly don't go around asking friends, neighbors
and total strangers how they voted. But in fact, this guy came to my
door asking for a donation for his political lobbying efforts. And
yeah, under those circumstances, I think how he voted is relevant. I
can't imagine giving political donations to someone who would take
the Fifth on this one. And anyhow, what's there to hide?
I remember when I was on my church board asking a candidate
for the priesthood to tell us a little bit about her spiritual
journey and practice. In the church biz, this is called A Soft Lob.
She became very tense and said her spiritual life was private and
nobody's business. I said, "But you're applying to be a parish
priest, not a doctor or lawyer or chief financial officer. It is
relevant."
She basically said Is Not. So I said Is Too. And then she
gave me a long, arcane, theological version of Is Not Is Not. In the
end, did I recommend this woman as a priest? Hell, no.
Politics, like religion, is a combination of head and heart.
Taking the Fifth is a head-trip. Fine for the courtroom. But for
grass-roots organizing on the front porch? No way.
Every time progressives do head-trip campaigning, we lose
big-time. As a journalist and occasional activist, I've had people
shut the door on me. I didn't like it. But in the long haul, I
sometimes learned more from those encounters than from the polite,
passive people who decided not to tell me what they really thought or
felt and let me walk away..... feeling calm and totally clueless.
Lynnell Mickelsen
Linden Hills, Ward 13
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