Everyone should get an opportunity once in their life to stand on the soapbox in town square and make a political speech. I had mine last weekend. Last March, I heard about a group called “Coffee Party”. The name is a take-off on Tea Party but the agenda was about civil public discourse and moderation rather than a particular point of view. I looked to see if there was a meeting in my area and when I found none, I posted an invitation online. The location was a local coffee shop. Sixty people came. We decided to meet again the following month and 100 people came. The group identified five issues they were concerned about. They also wanted to set up regular monthly meetings. So, a committee of volunteers was formed.
At the next meeting, in May, the group wanted to go “public” with a rally on the Morristown Green. For the rally, three topics were selected – Wall Street Reform, Campaign Finance Reform and Bipartisanship. We held the rally last Saturday. We had a speaker on Wall Street Reform who did an excellent job of summarizing the roots of the financial crisis of 2008 and reviewing what the proposed “reform” bills say. This was a bit depressing since the proposed reform bills don’t really seem to address the issues. Next, we had a former congressional candidate from our district discuss issues related to fundraising when running for Congress and ways to improve transparency and honesty. And last, one of our local mayors spoke about working together – he is a Democratic mayor in a Republican town.
I did a short introductory speech on the role of government as laid out in the Preamble of the Constitution (as evidence of our Founders’ original intent). I was also interviewed on NJ cable news – a three minute interview that became a sound bite on that night’s news.
So now I’ve had my 15 minutes in politics. It was enough for me! But there is something purely American about speaking in your town’s square. Here’s my campaign photo…BB
At the next meeting, in May, the group wanted to go “public” with a rally on the Morristown Green. For the rally, three topics were selected – Wall Street Reform, Campaign Finance Reform and Bipartisanship. We held the rally last Saturday. We had a speaker on Wall Street Reform who did an excellent job of summarizing the roots of the financial crisis of 2008 and reviewing what the proposed “reform” bills say. This was a bit depressing since the proposed reform bills don’t really seem to address the issues. Next, we had a former congressional candidate from our district discuss issues related to fundraising when running for Congress and ways to improve transparency and honesty. And last, one of our local mayors spoke about working together – he is a Democratic mayor in a Republican town.
I did a short introductory speech on the role of government as laid out in the Preamble of the Constitution (as evidence of our Founders’ original intent). I was also interviewed on NJ cable news – a three minute interview that became a sound bite on that night’s news.
So now I’ve had my 15 minutes in politics. It was enough for me! But there is something purely American about speaking in your town’s square. Here’s my campaign photo…BB
3 comments:
If you run for office I will know that you are following your Uncle's footsteps.
I stand by what I said above
Nice! I like the "roll up your sleeves and let's get to work" attire- very OBama! Nice job, Bri
Vicky
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