Thinking of Running? Start Local

Anyone thinking of running for a State or National office (Assembly, State Senate, Congress) needs to think what seats will likely be opening up in their district in the next few years. If you've never run for office before, starting with a higher office can be daunting unless you've got some experience under your belt. So start small. Think of Barbara Boxer, first a local school board activist, then a County Supervisor, next on to Congress and then U.S. Senator. She got some chops under her belt on the local level before making that big leap.

And along the way came the skills and the contacts necessary for running a major campaign. Of course, we all know stories of people who come out of nowhere and have a big upset in a congressional or Senate race. But those are the exceptions rather than the rule. A corrupt incumbent, a very disgruntled voter base and, more often than not, a candidate who's already developed connections and savvy that can be translated into a poltiical campaign.

Think Al Franken, well known comedian and on air personality, won with no political experience for U.S. Senate; or Ro Khanna in California, young entrepreneur beat a long time Democratic incumbent in the Primary, on his second try.  (And don't get me started on Donald Trump!)

For most of us, the road is longer and harder. Got an opening on a local school board or City Council? Think about going for that one. If you don't win the first time, consider running again. You will have gained a base and made contacts that will help you the next time, if they believe you are serious, hardworking and represent their values.

Consider applying for a position on a Commission or Board in your town or County. There are often openings and these help pave the way for a political run. Again, it's all about making connections, as well as having knowledge and passion, to get the job done.

And here's the best tip of all, start early. For whatever seat you are running for, get started well before the filing deadline by gathering friends and colleagues to help and make monetary pledges to the campaign. Ask others who've run for their advice. Check financial filing reports (which should all be online with your local elections office or the Secretary of State), to see how much people typically spend running for the seat you are interested in.

Do your homework, whether it's getting up to speed on the issues (attending lots of meets of the board you want to join is a must!), raising money, and just knowing how the political game is played, will put you in a good position to make a strong showing in your race.

And because you must eat, here's a brain food recipe to keep you sharp:

Spinach, Goat Cheese & Chorizo Omelette

 

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Omelette

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 4 ounces chorizo sausage
• ½ Tbsp butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 ounces crumbled fresh goat cheese
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• sliced avocado (optional)
• ¼ cup salsa verde (optional)

Instructions

1. Remove chorizo from the casing and fry in a medium saute pan until fully cooked.
2. Meanwhile beat the eggs and water in a small bowl.*
3. Take the chorizo out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Wipe the pan of the remaining grease with a clean paper towel.
4. Melt the butter in the same pan over low heat. Add the beaten eggs to the pan, then put the Chorizo, spinach, and crumbled goat cheese on half the egg mixture. Cook on low heat for 3 minutes until slightly firm, then fold the empty side over the side with the filling on it. Cover the pan with foil or a pot cover and leave on low heat for another few minutes until the eggs are cooked through. If your bottom is browning too quickly, turn the stove off and leave the pan covered for up to 10 minutes and the residual heat should "bake" it until the center is fully cooked.
5. Serve with avocado slices and salsa verde. So good you won't even miss the toast or hash browns!

 

Poem for These Times

And now for a little culture:

When I Hear Trump

When Trump says “carnage” I think “martial law”

When he says “millions of illegal votes cast” I think “mass deportations”

When his spokesperson says “alternative facts” I think “propaganda, lies, Nazi Germany”

When he says “My crowd is bigger than your crowd” I think  “schoolyard bully”

When he cuts off funding for abortions for poor women I think coat hangers, back alleys, barefoot  and pregnant.

When he says “Let’s build the wall” I hear Ronald Reagan saying “Tear down that wall!”

When he says build that pipeline I see bodies lined up end to end, border to border.

When I hear people say “Let’s give him a chance” I think of frogs slowly simmering in rising water, until the time of their devouring 

Women (and men) marching together

Call it a rally against the Orange scourge, or against tyranny, or misogyny or racism or for women's rights, human rights, the environment. Everyone had their own cause, and they all go together.

I wore my resistance button from 1969.

The omega for the ohm, the symbol of electrical resistance that symbolized the Resistance in those days, to the War in Vietnam, to the war at home. I did not wear a pink pussy hat. But there were plenty of those in evidence.

Here are some pictures. Were you there?

Our Marin Women's PAC group

  Share.

What to eat on a march in the rain: energy bars, chocolate with berries, nuts, and apres march? A quick stop at the pub for some pinot noir and potstickers. Yum!

Find an Issue and Run on it

Campaigns are about issues. Not about personalities. At least most of them. Even this nasty last Presidential race. Issues. Mr. Orange hair with the foul mouth and grabby little hands won because he tapped into the core of middle America's pain. What he does with it is another question altogether.

Even on the local level, candidates and their consultants need to look for the issues that differentiate them from the competition and that tap into what the people care about. One of my first campaigns was won on the single issue of whether or not to bring a new pipeline from the Russian River in Sonoma County to Marin County (California) to increase the water supply.

My candidate was an environmentalist, a fervent one.He wanted to protect the fish upstream, whose habitat would be damaged if not decimated by removing more water. Other environmentalists agreed with him. But there's more to it than that.

Building the pipeline would be costly. Our job was to take those realities - pipeline kills fish and costs taxpayers money, and craft them into a message that both environmentalists and more conservative taxpayers could get behind.

Our opponent had all the endorsements of the establishment. She had the money. She had TV ads. She was for the pipeline.

Logically, she would have been able to leverage that support into votes and win handily. But our client had a solution to the problem, need for more water, that didn't cost a dime and didn't kill a fish - Conservation.

It turned out to be an easy sell, once people heard the message, and realized it did not involve any great sacrifice, just a few adjustments to water usage on a personal level, and stopping waste on an institutional level. Getting this message out took both good mail, attractive, dynamic (if small) postcards sent to a carefully selected universe of frequent voters, and old fashioned shoe leather and telephone calls.

The week before the election our team was calling into a very conservative part of the district. I was talking to older Republican men, when I had a revelation. I turned to the candidate and said "We're going to win!"

We won. Big. Because we had the right issue, the right message and the right delivery. How you say what you have to say and who you say it to are key.

A lesson our Democratic Party needs to learn before the next midterm election if we want to take back the Congress.

Planning to run for office in November? Start now!

• 

  
  It's never too soon to start planning for that City Council, College Board or special district campaign coming up in November. You'll want to get endorsements and donation pledges from community members and thought leaders soon so when you file you'll hit the ground running, with a head start on the competition. Are there big issues coming up? Write an op-ed or two in the local paper on the subject. Differentiate yourself from the incumbent or other opinions that will be represented. And face it, you feel differently, or you wouldn't be running. If everything is hunky dory, just let the incumbents do their job.
  
  If there's an empty seat, get an idea who the early competition is likely to be. They may start coming out of the woodwork as the August filing deadline nears. Make sure your friends and family are on board early. No surprises for the spouse! And assess how much you can personally contribute to the campaign effort in terms of money and time. If you invest in yourself, others will be more likely to take your seriously and invest as well. Can you take time off work as the crucial fall time for walking precincts, making phone calls, filling out questionnaires and attending coffees and debates approaches? Plan for it now.
  
  Look at past election results for how the vote tends to break down, and check the past online filings for how much others have spent in your race. Are there people who gave to others who you know and can approach for your campaign? Do it now. All they can say is no, right? And you'll have some good practice "asks" under your belt when fundraising gets hot and heavy.
  
  Find out who the local consultants are who have done races like yours and interview a few. Lock up the one you feel most comfortable with early. Getting advice now from a seasoned professional is invaluable. Good luck with your campaign! You are well on the way to a successful race!
  
  
  

Alligators in charge of the swamp - Life in the time of Trump

Welcome to our swamp, citizens! We have it fully stocked with gators, just waiting to thrash their tails and sharpen their teeth. This swamp is a particularly nice one, with a whole new crew of critters moving in. Here are some of the Swamp Monster's Cabinet picks:

Secretary of Corporations, formerly Department of State  – Rex Tillerson, former head of Exxon Mobil, who was overheard speaking into a cell phone as he boarded the Trump Express for Russia, "I'm checking on my holdings there, Vlad. Chill the vodka."

Secretary of Public Lands Mining and Drilling, formerly the Dept. of the Interior - Ryan Zinke, former Navy Seal, who wants to keep those contracts in Donald Trump’s, eh, the public’s, hands.

Department of Nuclear Proliferation, formerly Department of Energy – Rick Perry, former Governor of Texas who has stated he wants to get rid of this department altogether. “Energy smenergy” said Perry. “We should sell those nukes to the highest bidder, now.”

Department of Worker Management, formerly Department of Labor – Andrew Puzder, fast food CEO. Says Mr. Puzder, “This is a great opportunity to put a stop to higher wages and those pesky unions, so the great unwashed can enjoy a cheap Hardee’s roast beef sandwich, while I get richer, and can make more donations to Trump, as God meant things to be.”  

NBA, formerly SBA – Linda McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment, who said, “What do you mean it’s not about basketball? Who wants to watch small businesses on TV?”

Department of Fossil Fuels, formerly Environmental Protection Agency – Scott Pruitt – former Oklahoma Attorney General, who says, “Drill baby drill, get every last drop out of the ground. Climate change is just a hoax by those tree hugging, polar bear loving, organic foods eating liberals. Be a man and eat smog.”  

Show me the Money Department, formerly Department of the Treasury – Steve Mnuchin former Goldman Sachs executive, who loves him some Hollywood movies. “Get your hands off my cash,” said Mnuchin, when asked how he’d advise the government in matters of money.

Department of Privatize This, formerly Health and Human Services – Tom Price, leader of the opposition to the Affordable care Act, which he called “a commie plot to let poor sick people off the hook, and impoverish insurance companies. That’s just wrong,” when asked his opinion of Obama’s signature health policy.

Department of Charter This! formerly Department of education – Betsy DeVoss, charter school advocate who says kids appreciate education more when they have to pay for it, instead of us paying for those damn teachers unions always wanting better pay at the expense of administrators.

Secretary of Homelessness and Blight, formerly Secretary of Housing and Urban Development – Ben Carson, neurosurgeon and former candidate for President.  Mr. Carson said, “I think Section 8 is a part of the brain we can just cut out because it doesn’t fit anymore. It’s not brain surgery. Poor people just cost money. If you can’t afford a house, live in a box; that's why God made cardboard.”

CIA director, formerly CIA Director – Mike Pompeo, former Army officer, who said, “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!” 

Border Wall Department, formerly Attorney General – Jeff sessions. “Get them wetbacks out of here!” said Mr. Sessions, wielding a Confederate saber which he rattled meaningfully.

Court Jestor, formerly Chief of Staff – Rience Priebus, GOP stooge in charge.

Overlord, formerly Chief Strategist – Stephen K. Bannon, Alt-Right News. “What, you never read 1984?”

 

More on either or

In response to the Bernie bashers on Facebook, reacting to something he wrote back in 1969 in a Montpelier Vermont paper The quote goes thusly:  

"The revolution comes when two strangers smile at each other, when a father refuses to send his child to school because schools destroy children, when a commune is started and people begin to trust each other, when a young man refuses to go to war, and when a girl pushes aside all that her mother has 'taught' her and accepts her boyfriend's love."

These folks took exception to the language, especially girls leaving their mothers to follow their boyfriends, and the fathers taking their kids out of school.

Well, I don't know what the schools in Vermont were like in those days, but I do know about the girls following their boyfriends.

And the "Revolution" we were sure was right around the corner. So I wrote this little piece in response:

"I have to start by telling you I came of age in the sixties. In those days, the days of Vietnam and just post-Selma and the height of the Civil Rights movement. The mantra for those of us in what was known as “the Movement” was “Girls say yes to boys who say no.” Yeah, gross huh? Boys were burning their draft cards, and resisting the war, some going to Canada or to Federal prison. Soldiers with consciences took sanctuary in churches.
 
"That’s how I got involved, in the first sanctuary in 1968, in Arlington St. Church in Boston. I stayed involved with the New England Resistance. The men were in charge. We were the “resister sisters.”
 
"We were the “office chicks.” Then something remarkable happened. We heard about something called Women’s Liberation. We realized that we were just as exploited as factory workers or other women not getting paid for equal work or being harassed on the job. We weren’t housewives, but we got their oppression too. So we rebelled. We started consciousness raising groups. A large group, Bread and Roses, grew up around all those women taking charge of their lives. Men did not like it. They feared it, they didn’t know what to make of newly angry women. Many of the old organizations fell apart. New ones popped up.
Then came Stonewall and the “gay liberation” movement. This was just too much for some, even our enlightened brothers. I was working at a movement paper at the time, one that tried very hardtop be egalitarian with all, men and women alike, and even they were very uncomfortable when I insisted we cover gay rights. 
 
"Yes, identity politics. At the same time, we identified as anti-war, anti-imperialist, and anti-income inequality, although we didn’t call it that at the time; we just thought it was important to understand and to help the “working class.” (And yes, many of the movement people came from privilege; this was Cambridge, teeming with Harvard graduates. As one of the few who actually grew up in a working class family, who had experienced foreclosure, unemployment and a broken family, I often felt out of some of the more abstract discussions people would get into.). We actually believed the Revolution would happen before we all turned thirty. 
 
"So, should I be thrown under the bus for past beliefs and cringeworthy statements? Should all my colleagues from those days? I surely hope not. 
 
"And neither should Bernie. You may not think so, but I believe Bernie gets it, he gets the nexus between so called ”identity politics” and economic politics. That it’s not an either or situation; it’s a both-and. That’s how I see what he has brought to this discussion. And why I was proud to be a delegate for him in Philadelphia. We can all learn from each other; we can all learn from history. And we all, I believe, must stop talking past each other (I know I’m as guilty of it as anyone else), and work together, to defeat Trump and to build the kind of society that serves us all.
 
"Just fyi, context for myself, today, I run campaigns for progressive candidates, mostly Democratic women. We have an excellent win rate. I work with a Women’s Political Action Committee, serve on the California Democratic Party and its Executive Committee and Platform committee. I was a co-founder of our Progressive Caucus in 2005, a caucus which is still going strong. Thanks for listening."

What we ate in the sixties while working for the Revolution:

Dunkin' Donuts and black coffee. And you can still get them both.  (But I recommend better quality baked goods and coffee, unless you are feeling very nostalgic.)