Voters want new faces with new ideas in our state. The voting public wants to see candidates that are more than willing to plan for the future and provide growth that does not disappear in bad times.They want communities which support a healthy lifestyle. They want walkable communities with large community centers which offer something for people of all ages. They want small businesses that bring in good paying jobs and tax revenues that stay in the state. They want environmentally friendly jobs that help rather than harm the communities in which they live.
They want candidates that will think outside of the old shoe box and use local resources to improve voter’s quality of life within the community. The old guard is too busy trying to help themselves and their old friends at the expense of their own communities. Old guard candidates fail to think locally and also fail to even be active in their local communities.
Progressive candidates bike to work and walk the communities with supporters while the old guard plays golf and spends their time in private exclusive clubs. Progressive candidates are a part of the fabric of the local communities they are trying to improve through changes for better living. They see everyday what needs to be improved and they work hard to bring about those changes with the support of local leaders.
Just this last week in the City of Albuquerque one of the new progressive state senators Tim Keller made the news by asking for funds to be unfrozen to help clean up the fairgrounds because of the harm it was causing local residents. Not something you would find the old guard even taking note of in this state.
If the old guard candidates wish to hold onto their seats in the following years they will have to find a way to reconnect with the voters in their own communities and provide improvements that are lasting and environmentally friendly. Healthy city planning will become a major part of how that growth develops.
The old guard will have to come down from on high and get to know the community leaders once more in order to find themselves reelected. The voting public is finding that these progressive candidates are encouraging renewal at a local level and that it has been good for their lifestyle and their businesses. Progressives were a key part of the movement that helped elect President Obama who himself was a community organizer before he entered politics.
Change is not about politics as usual but about local improvements that create healthy communties.
