In 2010, the Inland Empire will finally go from being the bastard cousin of Democratic Party politics to a nascent power player in the setup to 2012. Why do I say this? First, many Congressional disticts and Assembly districts in the Inland Empire went for Barack Obama in 2008. The flurry of Progressive activism in this area was euphoric and in it lay the beginnings of a foundation. Secondly, we have recieved peripheral attention from major Democratic power players such as Barbara Boxer who announced her 2010 senatorial bid in Riverside County and Gavin Newsom who came to the Inland Empire during his exploratory bid for Governor. Finally, the Progressive faction in the Inland Empire is finally achieveing the organization structure to compete against the Blue Dog faction which has consistently won and whose performance has been circumspect in the California Legislature and Congress.
While much work remains. I remain optimistic about our prospects in 2010 and beyond. If we hit the Regressives hard and hit them early we can achieve our desired results in November.
