My name is Wesley Song and I support David Sabados’ run for Party chair. I put my name here to be sure that there can be no question as to who I am and the reasons I support Dave. I have been a Democrat since I attended the University of Northern Colorado. I registered as a Democrat in 2004, shortly after the election before I started work in the Colorado state capitol as an intern. I am a Democrat because of David Sabados. While I was at UNC, I had held fast to being an independant. I was one of those independent voters that believed that both parties were screwed up and couldn’t do a damn thing. David showed me what it meant to not only believe in principles but to stand up to them. After we got to know each other and I worked with Democrats, I came to understand why he worked so hard. There are some great people in the party. The party has some great principles. There are things to be fought for. The things I wanted were the things that the Democratic party stood for.
Since college I’ve done work in campaigns, but I have primarily worked in the private sector and participated in politics like most people. I am not a high dollar donor, nor am I a super activist. I have mainly gotten my news from reading the Huffington Post, Colorado Pols, and the various local and national newspapers. I care quite a bit (as many of my facebook friends can probably attest) to certain issues. That being said, after the last election I have seriously contemplated leaving the party and returning to my independent status. It is my impression that the party has left some of the values that I most care about to the wayside in favor of better polling and a perceived greater appeal. I feel like the support for unions has become the crazy uncle type of topic that we push aside, except when we need their money and their support. It seems that we’ve forgotten that public education is what built the middle class in America. I don’t hear enough about what we are doing about income inequality and its tremendous effect on the middle class American. This last election, I heard almost nothing about what we stand for. I didn’t hear what it was to be a liberal or a progressive in anything. Maybe I missed some speeches, or some of the flyers got lost in my inbox. The fact is that I think we can win elections by running on what we believe in. I think that being a liberal and progressive isn’t about being a wuss as the right would sometimes have me believe. I think that leading by over polling our message is like the joke about the French revolutionary that says, “There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them.”
So I’m going to support someone that I may not always agree with, but who isn’t afraid to lead and to work hard. I’m staying a Democrat as long as I know that we’ve got people in the party willing to make it better.
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