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Blog-Politics at the National/Local Nexus
By nathanleewilcox | May 11, 2007
Today’s HeadingLeft show on BlogTalkRadio will feature guest commentator Chris Bowers of MyDD. Chris is in the rather unique position of being — at one and the very same time — a prominent national progressive blogger as well as a local activist holding offices in his local Democratic Party. Not surprisingly he has been a strong advocate of reform and a confirmed enemy of the status quo in both roles:
I am an elected Democratic Party official for both my local ward committee (the fightin’ 27th!), and on the Pennsylvania state committee for the Philadelphia portion of the 8th senatorial district (but not for the portion that extends into Delaware County–cryptic party rules around here). I have lived in both my local ward and the 8th senatorial district for the vast majority of my adult life, and I absolutely love it. In fact, one day, when I have enough money saved up, I would like to buy a home so I can spend the rest of my life here. My desire to put down roots was one of the reasons I started running for local party office–I want to be engaged with my neighborhood.
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For example, had I not run for, and won, my write-in campaign (which was, by the way, the first ever successful write-in campaign for state committee in Philadelphia), as chair of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, Congressman Bob Brady who would simply appointed someone to fill the slot after the election. In all likelihood, he would have appointed an African-American progressive to do so. After all, even though he is the “boss” of the remaining, hollowed-out shell of the Philadelphia machine, he really is a liberal. I think he might even have recently joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In fact, until Steve Cohen took over for Harold Ford in Tennessee, Brady was the only white congressman representing a majority-minority district in the entire country. As such, it should come as no surprise to anyone that he would have appointed, in good liberal fashion, someone who “looks like the district.” This situation is further complicated in that I actually personally convinced about forty people to write-in my name, roughly half of whom were African-American, by telling them that if they did not vote for me, that the machine would appoint whoever it wanted. My basic pitch was a series of variations on the following line: “the machine has abandoned you, so don’t let them represent you.” It worked, too. However, while the machine did abandon the district by leaving five out of six ballot slots blank, by many principles of diversity that progressives–including myself–hold, whoever the machine appointed probably would have done a better job of “representing” the district than I do.
This is all quite timely because Mike Nutter, the candidate that Chris, and many others in Philadelphia’s blogosphere are backing for Mayor, is rising fast and seems to be on his way to victory.
Something amazing is happening in Philadelphia, which will have repercussions far beyond our fair city. As the result of a remarkable confluence of the progressive movement / open left, an extremely smart and hard working campaign, local media endorsements, and even some local business interests, Michael Nutter is on the verge of becoming the next mayor of Philadelphia. In the course of just six weeks, every single poll shows him rising from the back of the pack into at least a statistical tie. Now, with only six days until the election, the most recent poll actually shows him in command
Listen in today as we get all meta and discuss the nexus of local and national blogs.
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