Join in on the brainstorm

Back in November, I mentioned that we need to get involved in the political process much earlier if we are going to make meaningful contributions to the makeup of our nation's, state's, county's, and local governments. I want to delve into thinking about the many, many different ways that this can be done.

It seems to me that our first priority should be to be as informed as possible about the issues that we are going to try to influence. We need to think about this stuff for ourselves and dialogue with each other about specifics. I think we should try to limit our involvement in areas that we honestly don't have a basic understanding of ourselves until we have educated ourselves on what we are trying to influence. I, for instance, must confess a big gaping hole where the info about local politics should be.

However, I know there ARE lots of areas and issues that we probably all have a greater degree of understanding. I know that without the unfolding drama of an election that is right around the corner, this stuff (to me at least) seems a little frustrating to devote time and energy toward, but this is the kind of thinking that leaves us two years and certainly four years from now regretting that we didn't do more earlier. I'm certainly not suggesting that we become obsessed with politics because that causes its own set of problems. However, disciplining ourselves to occasionally think about it and act on our thoughts is a long way from becoming obsessed. I'll give you an example of something that occurred to me the other day.

Who are the ones that will sway future elections? It is not those who are firmly entrenched either on our side or "theirs". It is those who we probably have connections with, but for some reason chose to swing their vote the other way because of various specific reasons. Another interesting thing about these people is that in many cases they can serve as the first domino in a great many to follow. What I mean is that if you can sway the person who is vocal about their views and claims to be among this "middle" category of voters, I believe this has a much greater potential to sway many others in their sphere of influence. Therefore, one of the things I am going to try to do is to search out those who fall into this category who will engage me, and I will be bring my best persuasive stuff to the table aggressively seeking to sway them. This will simply involve multiple conversations over the next few years, but it is a small brick in the wall of trying to influence our country. I've also wondered if there are ways that we can have a greater influence on swing states that seem to always determine presidential elections. I also want to point out the coming battle before the war. The battle for conservatism being the ideological core of the Republican party instead of the Democrat lite version of ideology that has increasingly characterized many, many big names in the Republican party. If this takes hold, we have got a whole different ballgame, and quite honestly, I think this issue may very well be THE deciding factor in all the rest to come nationally.

I'm just throwing this stuff out there to provide a launching point for discussion AND action from each of us. What are your thoughts? Any ideas about moving forward? Please throw something into the mix and join in on the brainstorming. The more that contribute with their energy, time, and creativity, the more likely that we little guys and gals can actually make some kind of difference in the direction that our country takes in the years to come.