George,

Social progress only happens when people of good conscience push the envelope. Especially given the strong Democratic numbers in our community, legislators who represent the Charlottesville area, whether on City Council, in the House of Delegates, or in the State Senate, have the luxury and the opportunity to take stands that may push the public policy envelope and may therefore put them out in front of their peers on occasion. The political leaders I most admire embrace this fact and are not afraid to take courageous, "progressive" positions on certain issues. Sometimes they may take hits for their stands, and sometimes they may find themselves in the lonely minority on an issue (at least at the outset), yet they remain an essential component of positive social change. Without leaders like these, we would not have made many of the gains we've made in areas of civil rights, environmental protection, reproductive freedom, etc.

Creigh Deeds knows all of this to be true and himself has taken courageous stands on issues like the death penalty moratorium. The Charlottesville City Council knows all of this to be true and itself has taken courageous stands on issues like the living wage and non-discrimination toward sexual minorities.

We want these folks to continue to serve as effective legislators, yet we want them to continue to push the envelope wherever possible. That is where organizations like Democrats for Change can play such an important role. The members of Dems for Change are actively-engaged citizens who wish to see positive change happen on a wide variety of fronts: education, neighborhoods, racial equality, open government, economic justice, transportation, housing, the environment, etc. By developing a thoughtful platform of strategies and solutions to deal with these kinds of issues, and by encouraging candidates for office to support this platform, Dems for Change has already helped, and will continue to help, advance social progress here in our community. And rather than weakening the party and threatening the party's standing with local voters, Dems for Change has brought new life and new energy to the party and both of the DFC-aligned candidates did very well in the last Council election (with Maurice Cox winning more votes than anyone else in the race).

I think there's a perception in some quarters that the Democrats for Change are a bunch of wild-eyed radicals intent on destroying the Charlottesville Democratic Party, or at least dragging it so far to the left that it drops off the political spectrum. I would encourage all local Democrats and self-identified "progressives" to come to our meeting next Wednesday to see for yourselves that this is not the case. And don't just come -- participate, share your ideas, and help us to keep pushing that stubborn old envelope.

Dave Norris (electronic mail, November 21, 2001).