about the initial reaction against the AA and Latino voters in CA but then I thought about it over the course of a day or two and tried to read everyone's posts objectively. I can see the other side of the argument and for the moment, I'm going to put aside the debate over party x blaming party y, fairly or unfairly. It's inescapable that a majority of AA voters did indeed vote for the measure and it's disappointing but not surprising. So I posted about what might be done in my LJ and I came up with this: *nervously posts her (probably stupid) idea (that will likely fail to have any effect at all)*
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OK I'm becoming more understanding of everyone's positions regarding the Prop 8 issue. I've been trying to read through EVERYTHING without bias, not take some comments so personally, and see all the sides. A day or two later, it's easier to step back and figure out what the hell is going on. I've been thinking about this all day and one thing I don't want to see are strained relations within this democratic, small d, coalition. So I was thinking that maybe we can try this and spread the idea around some sort of way:
http://change.govThe President-elect is letting us give his administration suggestions about what to tackle first and what to add to the agenda. If we get a shitload of people asking him to take a firmer stance against anti-gay measures, we would at least make sure he knows that this is a top priority issue. He might not be for gay marriage specifically but he is for equal rights, which is a start and the first step. Obama has quite a bit of leverage and I agree with the pundits who say it's better for him to present the BIG platforms now while his favorability rating is 1000000000%. Obama's good at selling stuff to people.
Putting aside party X fair or unfairly blaming party Y, I do recognize that the conservative religious elements of these two populations are ones that an Obama administration, backed by WE THE PEOPLE, has the power to influence and shift to the left, particularly the AA community. We're basically wrapped around his little finger, tbh. He's leading ALL of America but he's also now the de facto leader of the AA community in particular.
So on change.gov, Obama is letting the electorate tell him what we want and I say we take him up on the offer and make it clear that we won't tolerate equal Civil Rights for some but not all. I think he'll understand. I know he will. If he leads the party to use stronger language in it's civil rights platform with regard to equal protection under the law for sexual orientation and we put that on a national stage, I think we can start to sway the previously mentioned segments of the population to at least be more tolerant or open to talking about the issue. That's a huge start. I think there should be a summit in his first three months in office where the President-elect meets with leaders from all different groups and causes, including religious leaders. Get each group in a room separately and lay things out, then put everyone in a room face to face and facilitate a respectful discussion. I think that's the major problem is that people aren't talking to each other. If there's one thing that Obama has shown us, it's that it's possible to understand each other and come together despite our differences and then you can take it one step further and move forward.
Nothing is impossible. The fact that Obama is President-elect is proof of that.
So what do you guys think? Does it sound like at least one tiny plan of attack from one very tiny angle?
Feedback plz?
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eep! *hides*
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