Coffee and "Resistance"

I had the opportunity to join a small group of people today at the home of a friend to have some general conversation about the state of the world, the country, the state, the county, our towns, etc. The Facebook event was titled "Coffee and Resistance" but really, most of the discussion centered around our desire to be more involved in the community and the world.  We thought about and discussed several different ways and ideas as to how that might look.

This was a group of people who have a generally similar political outlook, which made it easier for us to discuss what kinds of things we think might be useful or helpful to do or get involved in.  But later in the day, as I was thinking about what we were discussing, I was thinking how great it would be if similar little groups were all happening all over the country.  Because really, THAT is the first thing we need - people to become more engaged in the community, society, the country, the world.

I will be the first to admit that I have very little idea as to where to even start.  I have always liked the idea of "getting involved" and being an "activist" for whatever cause or causes I find need involvement.  But often just thinking about that, about where to start, is daunting, and I settle back into whatever else I was doing.

One thing that's been on my mind since the election, and I shared this this morning, is the feeling that we need more, better quality candidates running for office.  Not Democrats or Republicans or any party in particular.  We need better candidates by the time the choice is narrowed down to 2 or a few in the general election.  Which means learning about the political processes for primaries or caucuses in your district and in your state.  Which means thinking about these things a year before the election, not 6 or 3 months before.  Which means showing up for said primary or caucus.  Which means doing some research and reading and maybe even attempting to meet candidates at the local or state level before that.  And...and this is probably a difficult one for many people to think about...realizing that voting on party lines or making your goal to "get a Democrat" or "get a Republican" in office does not further the idea of getting better people in these positions.

I've already seen calls to "take back congress" in 2018.  Is that really what we want though?  Is that going to bring about positive change or progress?  Because most of the time, when I go to vote in the general election and vote for an office, I feel like I am picking the least bad option.  Not always, but often.  What I'd love to see is that by the time the general election gets here, we've already "won" because we have the best 2 or 3 candidates on the ballot for an office.

Learning - the candidate selection processes for state and local offices in Minnesota

https://www.dfl.org/about-our-party/caucuses-conventions/
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/election-administration-campaigns/become-a-candidate/
(There is no single/direct page with the MN Republican party candidate selection process on it, but a friend of mine has shared with me the high-level summary and it's very similar to the DFL's)