People for Natalie McClendon

""The State Democratic Party, and each of the local party organizations, work for the rank-and-file Democratic voters, not the other way around. We need to trust and respect the Democratic voters of the state to know what their best interests are and to make good choices for our communities, state and nation. We need to build a party that reflects this reality."
From Natalie McClendon Previous Chair of Whatcom County Democrats 

I am very slow to endorse politicians or contribute to existing political parties.  An observer would say that I am a victim of my own self-developed cynicism and disappointment with the democratic process.  But then, I may not be the only one who is afflicted as such.  Nevertheless, every now and then there is reason to pull back from the darkness and wish for hope and change, even knowing that it might not come.   And so, dear reader, I recommend you invest some time considering supporting once Democrat county chair Natalie McClendon for the 42nd legislative district. As a distant observer of Ms. McClendon, what I like most is her  marked ability to combine effectiveness with a passion  for electoral participation. Under her chair, Whatcom County has significantly increased voter registration and turnout. Whatcom County has also returned some remarkably important electoral results. Most notably, the turn out for President Obama in 2008 and the turnout for Rick Larsen in 2010. I'm sure Ms. McClendon would graciously credit others for some of these achievements.  In reality, few leaders  in local  politics bear the responsibility for energizing a local voter base more than the county chairs of the various local political parties.



Cynicism  and her step-sister Apathy are the twin death knells for political participation, but today cynical voters are becoming more the rule than exception. How could they not given the events of the last twelve years?  Today, our families are saddled with poverty, debt, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. Our military is overburdened. Our foreign adventures and bubble economics have so sapped the domestic economy and bloated our budget that our country risks insolvency. Readers of this blog have probably ascertained that I harbor a deep mistrust of our electoral process stemming from a past attempt to organize and understand the voting process and my ongoing analysis of *surprising* vote results. Beyond this, many of us across the political spectrum have tired of a two party system that functions to support unending war and corporate dominance.

The Occupy movements has given us a glimpse of how the raw anger of  (mostly) young people in their twenties can upset what has become a dominant capitalist class based  hegemony in our country. The resulting suppression of their movement was predictable. We don't have a strong socialist or Marxist party to vote for here in Whatcom County or in America.  Until the citizenry as a whole decide to advocate for nationalization of corporate industry, the redistribution of wealth, strong progressive taxation, and an end to our imperial wars on second and third world countries, those of us who are neither liberal nor conservative are going to have to pick and choose among members of our community we value enough to give our support. Ms. McClendon looks like a promising choice. Here are her web pages:

"People for Natalie McClendon" (Website)
Donation Page for Natalie McClendon
Facebook site for "People for Natalie McClendon"