Tuesday, February 22, 2005

AZ LD7

Last night, I took my first step into the world of politics. My wife and I—newly appointed (as opposed to elected) Precinct Committeemen—attended our first monthly meeting of the LD7 Arizona Democrats. About 15 people braved the rain and holiday weekend for the 90 minute gathering.

I am struck at the level of sincerity of those present. There is no pay involved and the driving motivation is little more than civic duty and a desire to be part of the solution. The talk was of how the Democratic Party can build coalition and consensus rather than exist as a group of segmented splinters. One man told his story on how he became “an activist” in the party.

I was generally quiet. My time to speak up will evolve. I still plan on running for U.S. Congress although there is somewhat of a dilemma. In order to gain the state Democratic Party support, I will no doubt need to run for some sort of office prior to Congress. I am not willing to commit major amounts of time to such an endeavor given my work schedule. Maybe there’s some job—like dog catcher (which doesn’t really physically involve chasing after canines)—that I can undertake in the meantime.