BEYOND THE CAMPAIGNS

With all that’s happened in The Other Washington and in Olympia since 2008, sometimes it’s hard to figure out whether some of our Democratic elected officials are on the side of the common people, or on the side of money and the corporations. We know the Republicans are only about the corporations, but who is really representing the common people?

The 30^th LD Democrats strongly believe that the government and economies should serve people, not the other way around. We strongly believe that our elected representatives should follow the clear will of the majority, and not their own self–interested thinking. We the People are the leaders, while our elected representatives are our humble servants.

According to a March 2010 Pew report, 73% of all Americans receive their news from corporate controlled television (with FOX being way out in front of the pack). It’s easy to understand the confusion amongst the electorate about how to turn this mess around. Given also the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing unlimited corporate political contributions, it’s easy to understand the growing despair and apathy of people to take those direct political actions that will take our government from the corporations and return it to the people.

The 30^th LD Democrats, however, know that there is a way to change this situation and the course of our history. We strongly believe that the real change occurs in our neighborhoods, precincts and communities. We strongly believe that by restoring the humanistic qualities of community — qualities that have all but been lost through the destruction of the middle–class, endless commuter miles and advances in technology — we will set an organizing example not only for Washington State, but for the entire nation.

The question we ask you to consider is this: will you be a spectator to history — and let continue to negatively impact your family — or, will you be a proactive participant in history, and restore our nation starting right where you live?

“Be ashamed to die until you’ve created some victory for humanity.”

— Horace Mann

Working Within The Community

While it’s true that the primary purpose of the Democratic Party is to influence elections, the 30^th District Democrats are going above and beyond this basic aspect of the Party.

Our Outreach Committee recently completed a projected where, working with others in the community, we helped to feed 25 homeless men. Several of us actively volunteer in the schools, helping at risk youth.

We feel that, while we work towards electing representatives who believe in taking care of the common good (as opposed to just the wealthy), that we are also responsible for contributing to the community. It is in working together towards these ends that we can create the greatest impact.

We have found that by being proactively engaged in the community, we see needs to address that we might not otherwise have seen. We have found that by working with others in the community, we are sure to serve the needs of the community in a manner that includes the thinking of many — not the thinking of a few.

Through building such trust and efforts in the community — from the bottom–up — we will also find those candidates who believe that community–minded thinking always trumps the self–absorbed thinking displayed by too many of our elected “representatives.”

“When bad men combine, the good must associate, else they will fall, one by one.”

— Edmund Burke

Precinct Committee Officers and Neighborhood Leaders

Far too many people feel that the politics of Washington D.C. and Olympia is beyond their control, leaving them with a feeling of powerlessness. Despite poll after poll showing what people want Congress to accomplish, even our own Democratic “representatives” go against the will of the majority, incorrectly believing that only they know what is best for the people and the nation.

To highlight but a couple of many examples: The majority of Americans recognize that free trade has resulted in the exporting of our jobs and manufacturing base, yet our own U.S. Congressman is an advocate of the very policies that have sent our jobs oversees. The majority of Americans recognize that the banks and the ultra–wealthy are stealing the wealth of the nation, yet, our two U.S. Senators have voted against reasonable caps on credit card interest rates and believe that children of wealthy parents should inherit that wealth without earning a penny of it, leaving the rest of us to pay off our mounting national debt.

The most fundamental level of politics are the precincts in which we live. The most fundamental level of society are the neighborhoods within those precincts, and the communities in which we live. When we actively bring the voices of people together at these fundamental political and societal levels, then we can more effectively hold our elected representatives accountable to the will of the majority. If these representatives won’t follow the will of the majority, then we’re in a much stronger position to replace them with Democrats who will courageously defend the principals of the Constitution and the people of the nation.

Just as dropping a pebble in the center of a puddle will cause ripples to spread outwards, so too will such actions within the 30^th LD spread outward to other LDs throughout the state. It all starts with people ready and willing to make a difference right where they live. Contact Geoffery McAnalloy at to be a part of changing the direction of this nation — one precinct and neighborhood at a time.

“Democracy is an objective. Democratization is a process. Democratization serves the cause of peace because it offers the possibility of justice and of progressive change without force.”

— Boutros Boutros-Ghali