by The focus of the Nation has shifted over the past century. As the world got smaller, so too did our nation; thus the less importance our Municipal, County and State elections held in the American mind. These areas are key to many aspects of our average life. While national politics are very important, it is obvious that local politics has a more direct role in our life.
Over the past five years as I have worked the local scene in both my town and in my county, the vast majority of people do not know their local representatives (be they city council, water district or fire districts). It has gotten so bad that when election season comes around, most voters vote blindly for anyone other than the President. For citizens that understand the importance of home rule, this is pretty disheartening.
However, there is a dim ray of light… For those that pay attention to trends, you might have noticed something growing very slowly… A growing minority of people are showing greater interest in local politics, and this begs the question: What should those of us who fall into the Third Position do about the question of local politics?
Not only does local politics give us a chance to gain the experience needed to educate ourselves in the ways of politics in general, but it gives us the ability to meet unlikely allies.
From my experience, many of the people in local politics are old and worn out. They are begging for fresh blood and they are willing to help you run, even if they will not get anything out of it. Getting started starts with two simple options:
A) See what group has the most pull in your area. Whether they are Republican or Democrat, it does not matter. We all know they are the same in the end, the point of this is just to grow your experience.
B) If you do not feel like getting involved with the parties just yet, then just start attending meetings: Town Halls, City Council meetings, Community Council Meetings, even Chamber of Commerce…
In this case, all experience is good experience. It will not only help you improve yourself, but it contributes to the collective improvement of all of us who are active (or just getting active) in the 3P scene.
We can not let this go to waste… I know for a fact that the Left are noticing a shift, and if we dilly dally too much, we will lose much more than our chance.
Very nice article. Very positive.
New British Union has done work like this. They get members (they are 3P) into local councils. Main stream voting is as useful as a screen door in a sub. We need to focus at the grass roots.