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Hello Fellow Democrats,
Each time that I sit down to write an intro for the Blue Beacon I go through the many political thoughts that randomly and constantly ramble through my brain to pick one to write about. Given the current political climate, the urge to write about Donald “Dementia-Man” Trump is always strong and often prevails. This week, however, I want to take off my Democratic Party hat and put on my campaign management hat and leave Trump mostly (but not completely) out of the picture.
A week and a half ago Myra, Ronnie Ray, Millie and I attended an informal political dinner where the guest speaker was a former, and likely future, candidate for office. He ran unsuccessfully as an Independent in 2024 and plans to do so again in 2026. The four of us, and about 15-20 other liberals, listened while this man spoke about his one and only campaign issue, namely the issue of water in the East Mountains and the Estancia Valley. Water, he told us, is a serious issue.
We already knew that!
Everybody who lives east of the Sandias and Manzanos knows that water is a serious issue!
We didn’t need to be told!
For every campaign issue, a viable candidate needs to do two things. First, they need to identify a problem. This particular candidate did that much. But the second part is just as important. They need to propose a solution. Voters won’t vote for a candidate that basically is saying “We have a problem, and I have no clue how to fix it.” That sort of stance won’t win many votes, but that’s essentially what that independent candidate was telling us.
The party itself is no different. We are doing okay at identifying problems. Unlike the Republicans, we don’t need to create make-believe problems like they’ve done with immigrants taking away jobs or even eating cats and dogs. And now there’s the more recent claim that crime is out of control in areas where it’s actually been dropping in order to justify imposing martial law.
We, as Democrats, can identify real problems in our local community. We have a high illiteracy rate in Torrance County. Jobs are few and far between. And, of course, water remains a big issue. There are many more. But identifying the problems is only half the battle. We need to figure out solutions to those problems and recruit local candidates that have the vision and courage to campaign on those issues, get elected and then implement the solutions. Protesting and complaining fine and dandy, but it will really get us nowhere. We need to be able to offer voters an alternative.
STAND UP, PUSH BACK, THINK AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS!!!
Bill
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