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KVOI Radio broadcaster John C. Scott was distraught about Trump’s crazy remarks at a recent rally in Michigan. He invited me on his show to talk about what a person could do in the face of this preposterous bloviating, the bombastic bluster and the fact-free harangue.
“I can’t even stand to watch the news anymore, it’s so depressing. I have no idea how I’m going to get through all this to 2020. I am seriously depressed over this whole thing and I don’t know what to do about it. Many of my friends who are Democrats and progressives that have no idea what the hell to do,” John said.
The solution is a 3-step plan for citizens to get active local in Democratic politics.
Note this: April 4, 6:30 pm, Lori Cinnamond and I will present “How to Get Active in Local Democratic Politics” at Democratic headquarters at 4639 E 1st St, Tucson, Arizona 85711.
Step 1: Find a candidate or an issue you want to get behind, like the candidates for Tucson mayor, or the initiative to declare Tuscon a sanctuary city, or Mark Kelly who is running for US Senate against incumbent Republican McSally.
Step 2: Inform yourself better. Stop watching TV news, and instead read the New York Times and the Arizona Star. Also, make a habit of reading the Blog for Arizona to find out what the issues are.
Step 3: Go to a meeting and get involved. You have to stop yelling at the TV. You need to get up, get out and go to a meeting to meet like-minded people. For example:
- The Democrats of Greater Tucson meet every Monday at 12 noon in a luncheon setting at the Dragon’s View Restaurant at 400 North Bonita Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85745. You can see candidates and elected officials.
- Nucleus Club, meets the second Thursday at 5:30 pm at the Viscount Hotel at 4855 E Broadway. Hear public leaders and elected officials speak.
- Tanque Verde Valley Democratic Club, a grassroots organization for Democrats that meets every second Saturday at 9:30 am at Risky Business at 8848 E Tanque Verde Road. You can meet like-minded people and hear prominent speakers.
You can start by writing a letter to the editor, or wear a campaign button, or circulate petitions to get signatures, volunteer to work for a candidate or hold a house party for a candidate, write your representative or express an opinion on the Request to Speak system.
The other great thing about getting active in Democratic politics is you meet like-minded wonderful people who think the way you do. They are well-meaning, intelligent, well-educated people — the kind of people you’d like to have as friends.
What you should aspire to is to become a precinct committeeman. Then you are officially a member of the Democratic party and you get to go to all the inside meetings, meet face-to-face with party leaders, you get to find out what the election strategy is and see that there is a lot of organized activity.
But you have to get off the couch and stop yelling at the TV. So we’ll see you on Thursday, April 4 at 6:30 pm at Democratic headquarters for “How to Get Active in Local Democratic Politics“