“…of, by and for the people.”

In Grant Park on election night, President-elect Obama celebrated the unprecedented voter participation by saying “government of the people, by the people, for the people has not perished from this Earth.”  He reached a core value shared by millions of Americans who did not vote for him.

Earlier this year, groups of voters from the Detroit metropolitan region sat down with ActionMedia to discuss their outlook for the area.  They were eager to talk about ideas that might lead to greater economic opportunities, and make Detroit and its suburbs more vibrant places.  As in every part of the country, the residents had serious concerns about how things were going and what the future might hold.

Bill, a business owner without political party preference, was especially frustrated by elected officials acting in their own, not the public’s, interest.  Michael, a liberal college student, talked about the inability of government to do a really good job at simple jobs such as garbage collection and road repair.  Nicole, a young African American medical technician, said there seemed to be a disconnect between what people want from government and what they are actually getting.

Bill says, “It’s more like a divide between the government and the people.”  “Exactly, ” Nicole agrees, “they’re supposed to work together.”  “That’s perfect — a divide between government and the people,” says Michael.  Bill continues, “The government is not Detroit.  Unfortunately they’re running Detroit, but they’re not Detroit.” “But that’s the problem,” offers Michael.  “The government should be Detroit, the people are the government,” and everyone around the table vigorously agrees.

These citizens were describing something we’ve heard in focus groups around the United States, across all demographics and political beliefs.  Americans feel disconnected from government, that government is a separate force run by self-serving politicians acting in their own interests.  At the same time, these voters are true believers, and reveal an abiding idealism.  They believe deeply in the principle of self-government, and the ideal of participatory democracy.  Many of them have practiced it, at local government levels, sometimes without satisfaction — but even that experience reduces their expectations, not their belief in the ideal.

Advocates for better decisions about land use and the built environment are particularly well-positioned to build from this idealism, especially in its currently robust form.  Whether advocacy is focused on local, State or Federal policies, decisions about what, where and how to build ultimately depend on local governments.

Americans of all political persuasions believe that public processes that engage more people lead to better decisions.  When focus groups are asked what could have made a specific bad decision better, the answer is certain and immediate:  “talk to the people”  “find out what people want” “listen to the people who will be affected.”

This is clearly a time to mobilize citizens to participate in local government decisons.  And it’s more than that.  We have an opportunity to make every land use and development issue a story about public participation, about what people want and a government that does, or does not, listen.  This is a trump value: no public official can refute it, and wider discussion of the options generally strengthens the position of advocates for change.

It’s time to answer Obama’s call from Grant Park: “I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years -  block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”

Leadership and the campaign trail

Martin Linsky at the Kennedy School of Government defines leadership as the ability to disappoint your friends at a rate they can absorb.  Candidate Obama now sounds like all Presidential candidates, speaking in calculated phrases and steering toward the middle.  But if you’re disappointed by the televised debates, be assured that President Obama’s leadership will be sorely tested by Linsky’s measure.  His base may not be disappointed by the first few months of the new Administration –  we could and should see significant legislation on several fronts out of the 111th US Congress.  But Obama is no ideologue, and his positions, singly and in several, will inevitably disappoint many progressive Americans.

He’ll take the helm of a government that’s broke, bogged down, and bogus.  Our only hope is the hope his own candidacy has inspired: belief that we can save ourselves and our country, that we can be honest, fair and effective through government of, by and for the people.   It was disappointing in last night’s debate that, when asked what sacrifices he would ask of the American people, he latched onto individual reduction of energy use — the people as consumers, again.   But see his commencement address to Wesleyan University’s Class of 2008 if you want to hear what he knows about the importance of community service , of sacrifice and duty.

That’s the leader we’ll need in the months and years ahead, one who understands that “the Government” and our democracy is only as strong as our belief in ourselves as a self-governing people.  It will be much worse than a disappointment if the President’s speeches and actions fail to inspire the better angels of our nature.    And that failure would not be his alone.

Turn Off The News

A lot of people are walking around shocked by the election news,CNN 09/15 , feeling worse and more scared every day.

But here’s the thing about the “dead heat” polls and the constant poll results being reported as “news”.

To be polled, you have to answer your landline phone — which only half of young people even have. Trying to use the internet instead is dicey at best, in terms of the quality of sample.

To qualify as a respondent, you have to be a likely voter, which has in the past always meant people who voted in the past.

Overall, the polls suggest that today, most people who voted for Bush in ‘04 are for McCain, and most for Kerry are for Obama — our first community organizer President.

The Obama campaign is going to own the ground on Election Day. In cities across America, people are riding buses part of each day, registering voters. Not just the on-line, but the phone-bank and door-knocking are going great and are extremely well-organized, in many key locations under the local supervision of experienced organizers who have been on the job for 5 - 16 months.

Retailers with Obama-ware are selling baby onesies with slogans like My Mama’s for Obama and Barak-A-Bye Baby. Imagine anyone buying such a thing during any past presidential election? One Mom’s group I know of lined up all their kids in their Obama-ware, for a picture to show their children that they’d been part of the election of 2008. And of course, most people who buy onesies are young enough to have babies in diapers. And the young, like African Americans and poor people, have had the lowest voting rates.

In the 2000 election, 76% of the eligible population were registered, and only two-thirds of those, or 51.3% of the total, showed up or were allowed to vote on Election Day. It was a close election. So in 2004 voter registration went up to 79%, and turnout was 69% — the newly registered voted. Still only amounted to 55.3% of the total.

So here’s some advice for the next few weeks.
Quit paying attention to the polls, and turn off the news.
Spend time with young adults.
Show up every day, and then again on Election Day.
Then, keep showing up.

President Obama is not going to make things OK. Like he says, it’s not about him: it’s about us.