A couple things that I'd like to encourage some further debate and engagement on here today:
- Conservatives, for some reason, don't seem to play well together. Whereas progressives or liberals easily collaborate and form ad hoc groups and movements, conservatives and libertarians aren't as quick to work freely and openly. Why is that?
- The Republican Party and the term Conservative are not entirely overlapping. There are some conservatives who favor Democrats, for example many people in the southern portion of our own county. And there are Republicans who venture toward the progressive middle.
- My opinion -in general local political activists are still trying to find each other, reaching out in a myriad of different communication styles and devices. Some use meetup (like the Ron Paul and Liberty movements) some use facebook (college age) some are tying out blogs and twitter so they can reach a wider audience by use of SEO, some are commenting on the newspaper site with anonymous names ... you name it. Where are you reaching out right now? A challenge, if you aren't, if you are talking to the same people every day, then we all know that lack of progress is the beginning of failure. How are you reaching out right now?
- All are in seeming agreement that the party should reflect the people in the trenches, not the other way around.
- With regards to chairman's election, I've all but given up hope that those interested in the job will engage with anyone outside of Valparaiso. I wish they would, I counsel that lack of listening has been our greatest failure, but I don't rely much on hope for change.
Some recommendations:
- Comment on your favorite blog, don't just read it today, join the debate. Need some ideas look at blogroll here on righthand side.
- Join facebook and a couple NW Indiana groups there.
- Talk to a couple of your neighbors, what do they really care about? Digital of course isn't the only medium (that was for you RR) What are real citizens concerned about this year?
- Engage, engage, engage.
