(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
While everyone has been focused on the presidential race, I think state and local races are at least as important. Sometimes I think these races are even more important . . .
cross-posted at Daily Kos and at Wild Wild Left
In my view, local politics is what will change America. Not more and better Democrats in Congress or even in the White House. The revolution will come, as it did for the Republicans in the 1990s, from our school boards, planning boards, town councils, and in our state houses.
I think we must re assert states’ rights in order to push back at corporatism, which has overtaken Washington in both Democratic and Republican parties. And here’s how we can do it:
Education: to produce thinking people. Get rid of NCLB and all this inane testing, designed primarily to shut down schools in order to privatize them (imo). Public education is one of our winners. Replace the drive for answers to a search for better questions. Animals tend to learn through play: education can be rigorous, but it should be fun. We are sooooooo linear in our approach to education: kids sitting in rows, always struggling to get from point a: the problem to point b: the answer. Would kids think more expansively if there was more than just an answer, an end point?
We don’t need new math or new fangled spelling. Education should teach kids how to learn and how to think through problems and information.
However, a model to produce thinkers is not possible unless we take back our school boards from the creationist mindsets. When I say we, I don’t mean DEMOCRATS. I mean, we, the people of this country. Those who believe in intellectual curiosity and emotional maturity. Fearless minds. Fierce minds. An educational system where ethical questions help to shape strong and empathetic individuals… not afraid to scale up their thinking to consider the common good. Minds that might be able to encompass, in even a small way, the devastation of 1 million Iraqi lives destroyed…
Public Policy: It’s not just the economy, stupid. It is about values. It isn’t just the way we approach “gay” marriage/abortion/prayer in school. It’s not just saving polar bears and wood morels. It is as much about the value we claim in the soundness of our manufacturing processes/professional services/and public service. Who drives the demand for these kinds of values: an integrity in what we make, in our ability to be sound advisors, lawyers, doctors, and yes, even politicians.
When does integrity beat out greed and self interest? When does value make a comeback?
Perhaps when citizens, not as Democrats or Republicans, take back control of local and state governments. When using the word Democrat is only a general description on how one solves problems… not loyalty to a brand. No. Somewhere in all this craziness, we’ve lost being faithful, giving value to our citizenship… demanding presidents shed party once they take office and become AMERICAN presidents.
How can we protect the civil liberties of our citizens and our environment without some control of local politics… so that we can wield that power to inform state policies… in order to push back at federal politicians and courts. How do we gather power to protect things like our water (and keep it from being privatized), as well as insure the rights of ALL of our citizens to marry, have fair and equitable access to employment and benefits, education, and even service in the military if they are willing and able…
We need more and better citizens finding consensus and making decisions based on common good to take back our zoning and planning boards, on our school boards and township committees, and in our state houses.
The New York Times, in its edition today, writes that G.O.P. Senses Opportunities in Statehouse Races. I sense it is an even more partisan and pathetic GOP than led by Tom Delay, Dick Cheney, and George Bush. It is a wounded animal, lashing out and, to my horror, using women to express the very worst traits of this perversion of Republicanism.
It is important, and urgent to note, as the New York Times writes:
…many of the victors of 2008 will be in office in 2010, when statehouses get to flex some muscle. That is when Congressional boundaries will be redrawn under the next census; in almost every state, the party in power in the legislature gets a big voice in making the map that can have a profound impact on future elections.
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about the grass roots organization that Obama has built across the country in the course of his campaign, but NL has been writing about it more extensively than anyone else here lately, and it seems to me that it might form the basis of something like what you’re suggesting here, if it’s kept together and retargeted after the election?
One of the sad things about working on the Election Race Diary Roundup is that there aren’t many local and State House races. You can’t just get your people in toward the top, without them working their way there, and getting individual cities/school boards, etc. going in the right direction requires the good people to be on those boards.
And another major key to these local races is to get cream rising to the top to run for Senate and Congress.
A local report from Iowa: Dems control both the house and senate, and both are expected to extend their margins. Republicans have been retiring in droves this year, and the party has struggled to recruit new viable candidates to run. Obama’s strength and McCain’s weakness here bode well for downticket races.
Senator Harkin is comfortably leading his race by a 57-41 margin.
The Democratic congressmen from Iowa (Boswell, Loebsack, and Braley) are expected to be reelected fairly easily. Republican Tom Latham is vulnerable in IA-04 and could lose to Becky Greenwald. The odious Steve King will probably win reelection in IA-05, but the Democrat, Rob Hubler, is putting up a good fight. I got my fingers crossed on that one.
Just teasin’ — yes, I really agree with you and this is a very good effort and a view in the right direction.
Education is the KEY to most all of your points above, with the exception of those values, such as integrity, respect for others, taking pride in what one does, etc., which generally emanate from parents’ teachings or quite often, not.
There is so much wrong with our educational system, it’s hard to know exactly where to begin. In Europe, educators are treated with respect and dignity. Educating people to understand that our educators are the most important people in a child’s life and deserving of respect and higher salaries is, I think, number one.
Producing the kinds of educators that would aid their students in the “thinking process.” Consider that all children are innately curious. A teacher providing the proper stimulus can lead that curious child to think and learn easily. It’s a fertile arrangement for both teacher and child. And it’s not that hard to create that environment. Childen love to feel involved, for example. Instead of telling children why something happened, it would be better to ask them why they think that happened — just watch their hands go up. Well, I think you get my drift!
Receiving, as in Europe, a good, all around education is very important. But it seems there is a tremendous effort to commence pigeon-holing a child at an earlier and earlier age in terms of what he’s going to be when he grows up — a career, how much money he can make from that career. Instead, we should encourage a child’s natural inclinations. In the final analysis, it really shouldn’t matter that much what we choose to do, as long as we do it well and take the pride in the fact we’ve done it well. People who do what they really like are usually very happy and live longer.