The Final Push: How as a Californian You Make a Difference Beyond the White House

By four waters
Chair
Take Back Red California

Many of us have enthusiastically embraced Barack Obama’s message of change, but the change needed goes beyond who controls the White House.

Four years ago, the suggestion that a Democrat might successfully challenge Republican Congressman John Doolittle in CD-4 wasn’t taken seriously. We were cited all sorts of statistics and trends, but there remained only one fact: if we never gave the effort, we were obviously never going to succeed. So with a strong candidate at the helm (Charlie Brown) — and not much in the way of support — the grassroots and Charlie’s team went for it anyway.

At the same time similar events played out in other places around California — and the rest of the country. Activists decided that it was time to take our country back —with or without support from the larger party.

In 2006, we saw glimmers of success. Charlie Brown nearly unseated the locally highly popular John Doolittle. And the only Congressional seat in California to shift during that cycle was CD-11, where —backed by a strong grassroots campaign and little else — Democrat Jerry McNerney beat Richard Pombo.

We are now about a week away from the ‘08 election. Charlie Brown is closing in on the Congressional seat in CD-4. In his re-election bid, Jerry McNerney looks to be successfully holding off Republican challenger Dean Andal. These results are the fruit of very hard work and conscience investment.

All down the ticket there are races in California, poised to do what has been only laughable — seriously challenge “safe Republican seats.”

So what — why does any of this matter to you?

Personally, I’m not a big fan of “trickle-down” anything. I believe everything with strength is built from the bottom up, and is only as good as the base upon which it stands. That is not to say that strong, knowledgeable leadership isn’t important, because of course it is. But equally important is an educated, effective, active, and passionate base. And that base development requires investment. The meal happens because someone grew, harvested, and prepared food, not simply because people sat down at the table. If you want solid representation at the State and Congressional levels, it is necessary to invest at the local level — that’s just the way it is.

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