The Annual La Plata Dems Picnic

I went to the annual La Plata Dems picnic yesterday with a good friend of mine. I know that several people were surprised to see me in attendance, and I can appreciate that in light of recent changes. I wanted to attend and let people know that even though I may not be affiliated with the party any longer, I care about the people and the issues. There were many candidate speeches and a special "roasting" of former State Senator Jim Isgar. It was especially nice to hear from Jim as he spoke very humbly about what he had accomplished during his time in office. It was amazing to hear about the number of bills that he had sponsored and the people with whom he worked closely. One of them was Jack Taylor, a Republican. Jim said that he knew if he had both of them supporting a bill the likelihood of it passing successfully was greatly increased.

One of the things that sparked my interested in politics was because of Jim Isgar---and Mark Larson. I met both of them while at my former job and witnessed the good work they did together as a Democrat and a Republican team of sponsors that took the best of differing opinions and came to compromises that made a difference in our community. I can look back now and be thankful that this was the norm that I was exposed to and it made a lasting impression upon me.

Tonight I also had the opportunity to listen in to a conference call with Jackie Salit, who is a cofounder of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP)--and http://www.independentvoting.org/. The call discussed unity (or the lack thereof) in our country right now. There were some interesting statistics mentioned like the fact that 40% of American voters are independent, and that number grew by 10% after the last election. I have found some of the conversations and articles on this website very interesting and hopefully others will as well.
That's all for now---thanks for reading!