Political thoughts and personal reflection

I can't count the number of times I told my wife that my active involvement in politics is almost over. First I told her that I would cut back after participating in our precinct's primary caucus. Then I told her it would be after our county convention since I had been elected a county delegate. In the mean time I had started to also attend the monthly Whatcom County Republican Party (WCRP) central committee meetings to get more involved, meet elected officials, and discuss ideas. When I learned that the PCO for my precinct was unable to run again due to health reasons I stepped forward and got elected to be PCO for my precinct. When an opening presented itself I was lucky enough to be elected to the Executive board of the WCRP.

At this point I had stopped telling my wife that I would soon be able to stop my active participation in politics and was simply trying to convince her that after the November election my involvement level would decrease. Until then there was plenty of important work to be done.

Little did I know that I had to again revise my schedule because after the general election a new and unexpected election began, this was for the next set of officials of the WCRP. Luckily I didn't have to help out in campaigning for this election, but being a voting member of the Central Committee I spent lots of time talking to all the candidates... and the nice thing was that every position, except for Treasurer, we had two good candidates competing for them.

I think the officer board we ended up with is an excellent mix of old and new, diverse viewpoints but same goals, and am excited about the possibilities for the party going forward. The urge is strong to stay active if not participate MORE so we can see some real change in this city, county, state, and country.

We've got a bigger Central Committee than we've had for a long, long time. I believe we went from 46 PCOs a few years ago to 84 presently, and if everyone who was elected but did not make the 10% mark is included that number would go up to 96. Not only has the number increased, but the group has grown more diverse in many ways.

If Barack Obama's election was really about "Change" then why isn't that reflected within the Democratic Party or in his cabinet choices? Do you see any new people in leadership positions? Nope. You have the same party bosses making the same decisions and dictating it down to the people. The only thing that's changed is how it is packaged and sold to the public.