Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Suburban Trend Editorial
NorthJersey.com

Soon after the climatic election of 2008, we wrote congratulations you won. Now the country is yours. Now run it. We weren't kidding.Only in nuanced ways has the government changed and that's not what a lot of people have wanted. What's needed is a shot of mostly independent moderates to get involved in a big way. We don't agree with a lot of what the Teapartyers say but still have to admire their spunk, as well as their ability to organize and make their opinions heard.

Up to now we've thought that individual moderates have little chance of making their positions heard given the way the two parties pick their candidates, but we came across one group that could have the remedy - "Citizens Campaign-Jersey Call to Service. If their Web site jointhecampaign.com is to be believed, they are not for any one specific ideology but rather want to get more people involved.

Since access to knowledge is power, the site encourages people to get involved and lays out an easy-to-follow blueprint to getting elected, appointed, and becoming a citizen legislator - a kind guide to lobbying. In short it's an "Idiot's Guide" to how the political system works.

We've oft hijacked W.E.B. Griffin's "the true test of man's intelligence is defined by how much he agrees you," but the site is dead on when it encourages those dissatisfied with the political party whatever their bent to delve deeply. We've written, they concur, about how relatively simple it is to exert influence on the party's line by getting elected as party committee man or woman. What's not said (and we think the silence deafening) is that both parties have been hijacked by right and left extremes. The 10 to 15 percent of the undecided who decide the elections often are stuck with candidates with a strong ideological bent, refusing to compromise, and who do nothing to break the inertia of polarization.

The point is the site calls for 5,000 people to get involved in local government. We couldn't agree more. There are immense resources out there and for those who feel it could be run better, would like to see a shift in priorities (we call it re-cutting the pie) and get more people involved in making public policy. They provide a playbook for getting involved and remove the mystery. This country is yours. Given the amount of your hard-earned money you give the government, isn't it in some of your interests to spend a little time making sure that it is well spent?

Only in nuanced ways has the government changed and that's not what a lot of people have wanted. What's needed is a shot of mostly independent moderates to get involved in a big way. We don't agree with a lot of what the Teapartyers say but still have to admire their spunk, as well as their ability to organize and make their opinions heard.

Up to now we've thought that individual moderates have little chance of making their positions heard given the way the two parties pick their candidates, but we came across one group that could have the remedy - "Citizens Campaign-Jersey Call to Service. If their Web site jointhecampaign.com is to be believed, they are not for any one specific ideology but rather want to get more people involved.

Since access to knowledge is power, the site encourages people to get involved and lays out an easy-to-follow blueprint to getting elected, appointed, and becoming a citizen legislator - a kind guide to lobbying. In short it's an "Idiot's Guide" to how the political system works.

We've oft hijacked W.E.B. Griffin's "the true test of man's intelligence is defined by how much he agrees you," but the site is dead on when it encourages those dissatisfied with the political party whatever their bent to delve deeply. We've written, they concur, about how relatively simple it is to exert influence on the party's line by getting elected as party committee man or woman. What's not said (and we think the silence deafening) is that both parties have been hijacked by right and left extremes. The 10 to 15 percent of the undecided who decide the elections often are stuck with candidates with a strong ideological bent, refusing to compromise, and who do nothing to break the inertia of polarization.

The point is the site calls for 5,000 people to get involved in local government. We couldn't agree more. There are immense resources out there and for those who feel it could be run better, would like to see a shift in priorities (we call it re-cutting the pie) and get more people involved in making public policy. They provide a playbook for getting involved and remove the mystery. This country is yours. Given the amount of your hard-earned money you give the government, isn't it in some of your interests to spend a little time making sure that it is well spent?