About 75 people rallied at the State Capitol in Salem tonight for single payer or a strong public option--take your pick--and heard Peter Bergel and some excellent music, Bill Burgess speak and two other other speakers as well. Lights on the State Capitol steps spelled out "HOPE." MoveOn sold healthcare buttons designed by a local artist. It was freezing cold, annoyingly so, but most people in the crowd probably connected to being in solidarity with people all over the US who were doing the same thing last night. The leader of the Marion County Democrats who spoke did an excellent job of framing the issues and connecting struggles.
What is most lacking in Salem is the means to unite people on the left behind a common program and build events with a broad, but common, left perspective. We don't have to agree on everything, but we do need to better coordinate existing activity and challenge one another to do more and do better. We have actions undeway--this rally, antiwar work, a program on police profiling on Thursday evening, a pena on Friday, phone banking underway on ballot measures and more--but we don't have a program or unity or coordination.
Tonight was a good step forward and the MoveOn folks did a great job.
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Due to a late flight, I couldn't make it to yesterday's Move On health care vigil. All the same and as usual, Move On did a great job. Of course, Move On has done great work, rallies and lobbying, for months now on the health care issue.
All the same, we have jobs issues, and immediately coming up we have the 66/67 ballot issues. No one grouping of progressives in the Salem/Marion County area can carry the burden of what's on the plate.
So I'm going to second Ethnicguy here. Organizations like Move On, Rural Organizing Project, Willamette Reds, Jobs with Justice, etc need to be able to work together on a common agenda which indeed we do share. The differences in the big picture are minor, really!!!
This kind of stuff used to be called the United Front. Call it what you will, unity in purpose is necessary.
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