Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of Sonoma; Supervisorial District 2

Last year, Bill Brock, a former Republican National Committee chairman, who while in the US Senate was "the darling of the conservative movement," asked me, "How can you be a serious Democrat and still make so much sense?"

I endeavor to be a thinking person's progressive. If I can make sense to the other side, I have a chance of winning them over to my side.

My political philosophy is pretty simple: I'll tell you what I have done and what I am doing, and hopefully you will find my activities worthwhile and you will want me to continue.

Several of my colleagues on the Central Committee have remarked that before I became chair of the Issues and Legislation Committee in 2006, it was "dead." Today, it is a highly-functioning team. The co-chair of the California Democratic Party's Resolutions Committee salutes us as "prolific." We have developed such a statewide reputation that other county central committees seek our endorsement of their resolutions.

Among the resolutions I have authored or sponsored are:

• Systematic Reform of the Democratic Presidential Nomination Process

• Publicly Funded Campaigns

• Access to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services Improvement Act of 2006 (S.3963)

• Open Source Software for Electronic Voting Machines

• Joint Resolution of the Congress of the United States Regarding Presidential War Powers

• Climate Protection

• Net Neutrality Legislation

• Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

• Federal Forest Reserve Funds for Rural Schools

• Prepaid Postage on Absentee Ballots

• Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

• Introduction and Passage of the Citizen-Initiated World Service Corps

• California Native-American Justice and Equal Economic Opportunity Legislative Initiative

• War Powers Amendment

• Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

• Establishment of Citizens' Review Boards in Sonoma County

• Ratification of the Land Mine Ban Treaty

• Not for Profit Ownership of Water

• Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture

• Opposing Amended Gaming Compacts

• Defining Waterboarding as Torture and Eliminating Its Practice by the United States Government

• War Authorization Power

• Opposing Military Recruiting in Secondary Schools

At the beginning of this year, the Issues and Legislation Committee began taking proactive positions on circulating initiative petitions, advising local Democrats on which ones to sign or not sign. As far as I know, Sonoma County is the only local party that provides this service. Also, as far as I know, no other local party has developed a platform on local issues. The national Democratic Party has a platform; so does the California Democratic Party. Why shouldn't the Sonoma County Democratic Party have a platform as well? We have begun to develop such a platform, and we plan to have it ready for the autumn campaign.

A little negativity is unavoidable in a campaign, for if we didn't have problems, we would have nothing to talk about but the good life here in Sonoma County. In fact, the Sonoma County Democratic Party has problems. Its Central Committee gets away with very questionable decisions, including gross mismanagement of donations, because not enough Democrats show up to see what's going on in their name. But, it's not just the Central Committee that is broken in Sonoma County, it is the entire Democratic Party. It is rare to see guests show up at a Central Committee meeting, even from our county's chartered Democratic clubs. This is indicative of a deep-seated dysfunction, and as long as most Sonoma County Democrats are complacent to the point that the only effort they make is to mark a ballot from time to time, this dysfunction will persist. It's never been considered smart politics to tell the voters, "It's your fault." But, the reverse of that implication is, "You have the power." If you own the problem, you can solve it. Skullduggery thrives in the Dark; rank and file Democratic voters need to become the Light.

Viva la Luz!

Tom