WCC’s job just became all the more important

Politicians and parties come and go; principles endure.

Western Colorado Congress is built on the principles of grassroots democracy and political empowerment. We follow the creed that “the cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy.”

Trump or Clinton, we at WCC remain true to our principles and our mission. We’ll work with anyone who’s willing to work with us to better our communities and our country, and we’ll push all parties equally hard for social, economic and environmental justice.

There’s a lot to be done now to restore civility and find a way forward that will at least start to bring us back together as a society. That work needs to start here, where we are, with all of us.

We have a lot of common ground to build on. The new populism is broad-based, with people across the spectrum voicing similar aspirations to live in healthy, safe and vibrant communities where no one is left behind.

For example, we’re enormously heartened that Coloradans voted to raise the minimum wage – a campaign that WCC members worked hard on. This was populism in action, as people saw the need to adjust something that wasn’t working about the status quo.

Of course Western Coloradans won’t all agree on everything, nor should we. We all bring something to democracy. WCC, for its part, will be an advocate for democracy. We’ll strive to be a calm, compassionate, firm voice of the people of Western Colorado, ensuring that the change to come works for everyone and isn’t simply co-opted by the same old elites, or by a different set of elites.

This is political work. My point is that it isn’t partisan.

Going forward, we’ll continue to fight hard to protect our communities against corporate interests that would extract resources at the expense of our health and our local economy.

We’ll rally more people and create a vastly more powerful movement to represent the interests of the many against those of the few who are overly privileged in our system.

We’ll help convene healthy public conversations about the racism, misogyny and xenophobia that were fanned in this campaign.

And most importantly, we’ll work together and offer a forward-looking vision and populist alternatives to the neglectful policies – of both parties – that have produced the present fear and economic insecurity.

We’re going to need your help, and the help of thousands of others in Western Colorado. So please join WCC, if you’re not already a member, and watch this space for further developments.