wwbd- the change that IS barack obama, here in my neighborhood.

[mopinko]

what would barack do?
so, last year we had a hard fought, nasty municipal election. my very progressive alderman was mercilessly (and thruthlessly) slimed on a couple of neighborhood blogs. it was ugly, and it was close. he missed being re-elected outright in the primary by 52 votes. he won the run-off by 253 votes. the loser filed suit. so, the nastiness continued.
to be honest, i hated these people. i was throughly slimed on the blogs. i thought their candidate was a nutjob, and they used some very right wing tactics on election day. they had pollwatchers up the wazoo, and challenged like crazy. a religious crazy group came in and helped them develop the challenge lists. there was some outside interest, including a hatchet job on penn and tellers bullshit, even. the blog wars were intense, and amazing. i took it personally, as i was an election judge, and my precinct was on the list.
the lawsuit was thrown out. they insisted that they would release their evidence, but they never have. the remnants of that campaign has morphed into an election reform group. it is really only a handful of people. they did put on a well attended campaign forum earlier this year. but i still thought of them as a bunch of bitter deadenders.

yesterday i got an email from the president of the ward organization that there was a public meeting of this group. he said he had seen a couple of flyers, and someone had forwarded him an email. among the items on the agenda was the release of said evidence. the question was- should any of us attend the meeting? we knew that if the alderman showed, or too many of us showed, the chances were good that the blogs would spin it that we had invaded.
i could not help looking at the situation this way- what would barack do? all these people are hard core obamanaughts. i asked them- what would barack do? that was about the end of the email go round. the alderman and committeeman could see no good coming from their appearance.
but, i just couldn't help it. i had to go, not as a spy, but to see what these people were about. and ya know what? i was really welcomed. ok, i got the hairy eyeball for a while. (and the bloggers were left out of the loop. they were not there, and the meeting was not touted on the blogs.) but as they started talking about securing clean elections, and found out that i knew a lot about the movement for election reform, and that i agreed with some of their goals, they asked me to join them. i agreed to help with recruiting and training election judges and pollwatchers, something very near and dear to me.
common ground, people. you find it in the strangest places, if you are willing to listen. i think change is already here.

[mopinko]

1. 4 recs and no replies?

er, maybe that is not such a bad thing.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. I think it just goes to show, the progressives have the staying power

and the spoilers are sprinters. They didn't hang in with the group they created because that would take actual work, so the moderates who remained were actually open to involvement with progressives.

It gives me hope for next year, after we regain the WH. The spoilers will go away again until '11, and let us get some work done.

[mopinko]

4. barack will get it done.

i am so proud to see the legacy of one of the ugliest times in chicago history is something so positive. barack was an organizer in the time of harold washington, (see my journal) and i think that some of harold's genius has rubbed off on him. 20 years after his death, chicago is a better place. more decent, and humane.
i think barack's impact will be much the same.

[LiberalAndProud]

3. I support clean elections.

And it's too bad that it's been left to the bitter-enders of any campaign to try to secure them.

k& r

edit for r not 4

[mopinko]

8. ya know, the thing is, it was a clean election.

i know, it's chicago and all. but i tell ya, it was clean. i was a part of the campaign, i was an election judge, i saw absolutely nothing to change my very high opinion of the candidate, the organization, and the process. one of the most upstanding alderman ever is now the county clerk, and keeps it all as clean as is humanly possible. and he lives in my ward.
from conversations then and today, i think that they do not have all that solid of a grasp of the whole machinery, and saw things that they stretched into something that they weren't. ie- signatures that they did not think matched the book. not only did they not really look at things like how long ago people had registered, but they also did not understand that they had no idea what the judge did to check that, or understand that the judges decision is final on that. that is why their suit was thrown out.
so, i hope mostly that we can heal. you just can't have a functioning democracy when people don't trust the results. duh, i know. but still...

[FrenchieCat]

5. Brick by brick, block by block, town by town, city by city, state by state......

we will effect change.

That's what you did....and that is what many of us are doing.

Thank you! :hi:
`

[mopinko]

6. yup.

i have a confession to make- i had you on ignore for a long time after the whole christine cegelis/tammy duckworth fight. i am glad i took you off. i am looking forward to the end of all this when i can just wipe out my ignore list, and start fresh. so, add to your list- person by person.
:hi:

[grantcart]

7. this is what he is talking about when he speaks of breaking 'the stalemate'

good job

[mopinko]

9. thank you.

i hope that we all soon find ourselves standing on common ground.