Self-Identifying as a Democrat

At SUPERDAY, I learned that we can engage in great conversations with our supporters just by identifying ourselves as Democrats. There are so few of us in the community that many people feel isolated and alone. I had been thinking for some time that that was possibly the case. Self-identifying as a Democrat is one important first step in engaging new supporters. So, I had a bunch of buttons made with the county logo on them. Wearing these buttons when we go out and about increases the likelihood that someone will engage us in a conversation and we will find out that they have always been a supporter and just didn’t know where to start. I find it disturbing that many of the strong Democrats that I know are hesitant to wear the button because they are afraid of the reaction they will get from GOP supporters in public. It is a very sad commentary on the state of our political discourse that there is a very real possibility of getting physically hurt just by identifying one’s political affiliation. I don’t think I need to remind everyone that intimidation of the ordinary folks is how groups like the Taliban rise to power. I, for one, am not going to let them rise to power that easily. It will be great free advertising for us if I get beat up while wearing the button.