Anybody can do this

by: cfinnie

Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 19:24:37 PM PDT

First, I really did mean it in my speech on Saturday when I said most of the good ideas were on the floor of the convention. Of the 12 points I presented in that speech, a couple were mine. A few came from things I heard at central committee meetings or regional events I attended across the state during the campaign. In some cases, they were things political friends of mine suggested, or even stuff I read on blogs and listservs. One friend of mine at the convention called it crowdsourscing, another fellow said it was the essence of democracy, and a third observed that that's what representatives are supposed to do--listen to their constituents. Of course they're all right. But the point is, all you have to do is show up and listen. We have a lot of bright, experienced people in the Democratic Party in California. They have a lot to teach us.

The other thing people kept telling me is that I was so brave to do this. Anybody who knows me can tell you I'm not an inherently brave person. Foolhardy on occasion perhaps. But I was so nervous on Saturday that my son had to type the changes to my speech because my hands were shaking. What motivated me was the belief that what I was doing was important, and that's not much different than most of the people who do extraordinary things in our party every day.

I meant that too. I believe that anybody can do it. It helped that I work for myself and so have flexible hours. But that also means I have no steady income and an inherently erratic workload. So I still maintain anybody can do this.

And a lot of people should.

It would shake things up. Get more ideas out on the floor. And open up the Party.

I was talking to a new regional director on Sunday. She'd been honored on Saturday night for setting up a paid voter-registration program in her county. She and a friend decided to do it she told me. So they put together a plan, raised money, hired staff, and registered a lot of voters. When I said "Wow!" she shrugged and said, "We thought it needed to be done. Nobody else was doing it. So we did."

She didn't let people tell her she needed more experience, should leave it to the professionals, or that it was too big a job for her. She saw something that needed to be done, and she did it. I tried to do much the same thing. If we can do it, so can you. And I hope you do.