I’ve been feeling down lately about the present and future of this country.  The damage done in the past seven years will take many, many years to undo and we need strong, brave leaders who understand that desperate times require bold solutions.  I believe Edwards is the best candidate to get this country back on track but his populist, progressive message is a threat to our corporate media and the DLC which are doing their best to marginalize him.  I don’t believe Edwards can get the nomination and I’ll just say that I’m less than thrilled with the two other leading candidates.

So why am I feeling hope?

Hope Reason Number One:  I found out tonight that a woman and writer I very much admire is going to run for public office.  You gotta love that kind of grassroots spunk and determination!

Hope Reason Number Two:  Last Friday night when I was at the caucus training for the upcoming Colorado caucuses (Feb 5) our party secretary told us that in 2004, a total of 2100 people in our county participated in caucuses but that as of Friday, the party phone line had already received 2700 inquiries about caucus locations!  More people are getting involved which means more ideas and more passion and maybe, just maybe, more progressive solutions to the many problems!

Hope Reason Number Three:  Tonight I helped with the weekly spaghetti dinner for the homeless and working poor.  And guess what?  Folks were talking about caucusing!  In 2004 I registered many of those people to vote, some for the first time in a long time and some for the first time ever, but I didn’t really push to get them to caucuses because the interest didn’t seem to be there.  But now they want to be involved right from the start which means more people involved which means more ideas and more passion and, well, you know. 

Have you ever noticed how Hope makes you feel just a tiny bit lighter?