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I've been thinking about the DFL endorsement battles, and the battle to get elected in general. It's what I do. I think about elections, and how to win them, and how to organize to win them(among other things, I think about music, good books, and long walks on the beach). We all know that it really is a battle sometimes, elections can be rough.
We, as members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party have the same general outlook on the issues. We are a big tent, so there is a wide array of viewpoints, a wide array of ideas, and a wide array of how to implement those ideas that flow through the veins of the DFL. It's good to offer a strong defense of one's candidate. It's good to be excited about someone who you think can do all the things you want them to be able to do. But what else do our candidates really need from us and us from them?
I believe, as supporters, our candidates need us to ask them the hard questions, and to tell them the truth rather than painting a rosy picture if the horizon is darkening. Our candidates need us to ask them what they want from us, and we need them to ask for our help. We need to trust our candidates and their staffers' framework for the volunteer work that they ask of us. We need to know that they need us, and remember that they need us so that they can know about that particular thing (issue), or that particular person ("Tiffany, the DFLer from down the road?" "Yeah, she'd be a great volunteer! But don't call her on Tuesday until after 3pm.").
We're the candidates' local connection. Our candidates need us to be a mouthpiece (or keyboard, as it were), but our candidates need us to represent them in an honorable and non-politically damaging ways. I say this in particular to remind everyone that the internet can be unforgiving (there are snipers everywhere). Our candidates need us to listen, and our candidates need to let us in on their strategic thinking at least a little bit, (if we can be trusted (how do we measure that? I'm not sure.)) so that we can understand. We need to level with one another to understand what we want from each other. They need to set our expectations, and we need them to surpass ours. Our candidates need us to be able to think about the "big picture." Our candidates need us, uncommitted and committed alike, to tell our neighbors now why a DFLer is a better choice in a generic general election match-up in the fall.
After the endorsement/primary battle is over, our candidates need us all to work together again to make the phone calls, to walk and knock on those doors. Our candidates need us to come together and drink the wine of a united front rather than sipping on our sour grape juice alone in the corner. They need us, and the party needs us to go out and talk to our neighbors about why it is so important to vote in any election. They need us to help drop "off-year" from the presidential/occasional voter's vocabulary.
These are the things that we need from one another in order to ensure success.
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One of my standards for a politician is: "Who campaigns the best?" Part of that is: "Who works the Gay Pride event the best?"
