The coalition had produced a report on the future of higher education, and Deval Patrick, the governor-elect, a man who clearly has plenty to do with his time, had actually read it, which he showed by responding seriously to the issues it raised, not only signaling agreement on key points but also expressing thoughtful disagreement in at least one instance. He took a report written by ordinary people, not by management consultants, seriously, and he made people in power do so as well.
The Summit included a large Community Hearing, at which Patrick made remarks. But first he tried to slip in unobtrusively just to listen to what people had to say. On his own, he would have gone largely unnoticed, but the crowd of university dignitaries, police, and press following him drew attention, prompting him to include in his public remarks that he was learning how difficult it is for someone in his position to listen unobtrusively. That’s something to remember as we watch the development of our beloved people-powered candidates into seasoned politicians-as much as they truly desire to stay in touch with the people that propelled them into office, as much as they want to sit quietly and listen, sometimes it just won’t be possible for them as governors and senators and representatives in the way that it was when they were long-shot, or even sure-thing, candidates. They have to think about ways to overcome that and maintain a connection to people outside the traditional power structures, but we also have to think how to create opportunities for them to do that.
Nicely said. I hardly need to point out that the Patrick & Co. have incorporated public input from the moment he began the campaign, including the much-derided “requests for help” from early 2005. In July 2005, Patrick talked to the blogs in order to get a little oxygen to his campaign, which somehow still seemed like a long shot to most people, including many dyed-in-the-wool progressives. Later, the campaign responded to criticism about its video testimonials by contacting BMG for input.
In other words, this is indeed how they do business, from our experience. Patrick recently reacted incredulously to the suggestion that he should meet legislative leaders out in the open; of course, private negotiation is a critical part of governance. But so far, Patrick keeps coming back to the well of public input because he has found it to be useful: It provides him with credibility with the public, and with the press or legislature on the particular issues the public brings up to him. While the Beacon Hill establishment offers knowledge provided by bureaucratic expertise (a hugely valuable thing) and by lobbyists specializing in particular policy areas, the public has expertise too. While “the plural of anecdote is not data”, Patrick can get a good feel of what people are thinking about by keeping an ongoing and unmediated conversation with the public.
Let’s not kid ourselves: time spent in a town meeting in Pittsfield is time not spent with lobbyists, legislators and the press. And some people who would like Patrick’s ear — and think they’re entitled to it — will be disappointed. But this “new model of governing” will take some care and feeding. It’ll be fascinating to see how this develops.
I was just writing this up as a user post. đŸ˜›
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Laura doesn’t seem to begrudge that BMG scooped Blue New Hampshire for the Hodes interview. Okay, so she’s a litle bitter. LOL
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The other thing that I was going to point out in my User Post was that to ensure that this dialogue continues, the public, activists, grassroots, netroots and our allies need to get to these working group meetings and contribute. I hope that everyone who blogs or reads here regularly can get to at least one of these meetings and then report back on how it went.
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We need to keep these conversations going.
with mcjoan on the front page – we tend to gravitate to what we know, I guess.
and did I miss a FP changeover at DKos?
MissLaura, KagroX, devilstower, and BarbinMD are the new FPers.