Big news for our group with our officer openings. Two of our stalwart volunteers, Peggy Rhoads and Alison Longley, have stepped up to take on the secretary and treasurer jobs respectively on a trial basis. I am hoping this will work out well for each of them. We also know we need to recruit more folks, especially younger folks, as many of our volunteers may age out soon, and others already have. I welcome any of you who get these messages but don’t attend our meetings to start joining us. We are a very friendly, progressive, welcoming group of people who want to help make positive change, and the more hands we have on deck, the better. We will look to start making more recruitment efforts at our next meeting.
We have learned that the chair of the 40th LD is resigning because he has gone to work for Rick Larsen’s campaign. Therefore, the 40th LD chair position is open. One of our members may be interested in running for that spot, but I want to let everyone know of the opening. If you have any question as to what this would entail, feel free to call me.
We passed a resolution that is worth telling you about. The Fossil Free Finance Act would require the Federal Reserve (Fed) to mandate that major banks and other Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) reduce and stop the financing of projects and activities that emit greenhouse gas emissions – S. 3167 introduced by Senators Markey and Merkley; also in the House. See https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-merkley-announce-legislation-to-get-big-banks-to-stop-financing-fossil-fuel-projects#:~:text=today%20introduced%20the%20Fossil%20Free,that%20emit%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions. I encourage you to write to our senators to encourage them to pass this bill. One of the best ways to bring the fossil fuel era to a close is to end the ability of those companies to get financing for fossil fuel projects.
Cindy Wolf reminded us that for any of you who may want to apply for the volunteer positions for the advisory environmental committee, you need to get that in by Tuesday, Feb. 15.
Ande Finley of Lopez had recommended a book called Democrats 101: A Primer For Us. It does a wonderful job of explaining who we are, from centrist to progressive. Here is a summary I have composed:
The Democratic Party starts with FDR in 1933. He stood for the idea that the American government exists to help the people, a radical concept for the time. And following on this idea, the Democratic Party exists to better people’s lives, that we are not just out to hold office but to make America a better country to live in. The Common Thread we possess is the natural human impulse toward fairness and justice. The author says we still talk the talk, but the party doesn’t walk the walk, have lost touch with our base, which he says is made up of farmers, labor, and Black Americans. He sees an arrogance and elitism, a smugness that everyone knows we are the good guys, a complacency that led to Hillary’s defeat.
Modern politics isn’t about facts, logic, policies or positions, it is about emotional perception. People vote on emotion, not ideas. Also, the vast majority of Americans don’t have time in their
lives to follow politics closely. We need to be the ones that these people trust, and we do that by good messaging based on our values, as our core beliefs excite people; equal rights for women, a livable minimum wage, clean air and water, affordable health insurance, an end to racism. You don’t become the majority party by being ahead of your time, you do it by being in your time. Our core values and the beliefs they inspire are our moral compass.
Our core values:
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which translates as justice, freedom, and opportunity.
Justice – Everyone is respected and safe, a just society.
Freedom – Democracy, safe and free elections.
Opportunity – A fair chance, putting education first over special interests, universal access to acceptable medical care, access to a decent job and a way to support your family, an end to racism.
Our declaration has to be devoid of politics, these are the things we stand for, not ideology or the way we will accomplish these goals. We need to be about pragmatism, getting things done, as most Americans believe in this. It’s time for us to reconnect with the American public.
We will always have moderates and progressives, realists and idealists, establishment and activists – But we don’t need to choose one or the other, we need to be us. Our identity as a party needs to be about our basic values and how we present them. Our basic values are American values. Our central message has to be about all of us (all races) and coming from all of us, not separate messages for different races. Us. America must be a truly just society for everyone.
This book, no longer than a pamphlet, is a Common Sense for our time. It takes about two hours to read, and it gives us all a common grounding in what it means to be a Democrat. My wife and I have both read it and found it very helpful. I have ordered 20 copies for our party, and I will pass them around first to those who attend our meetings, but I will encourage them to be passed on to others when done. The book can also be ordered from bookstores and online both in paper or as an online read. See https://www.jmpurvis.org/democrats-101