There is plenty of negative emotion…anger, frustration, sadness…to be had in 2020. Trump, racial violence and inequity, a global pandemic killing 200,000 fellow citizens, murder hornets, the west coast on fire (again)…do you realize the Australian wildfires were this year? Doesn’t it seem like a decade ago?
There’s a lot to feel good about as a party. It’s been easy to find a sense of purpose. We knew what our mission was in 2020. Now we need to see it through to completion on November 3; a Democratic Victory, which for Stratford means Biden-Harris, DeLauro, Bradley, Gresko, Young, Simon all elected. The stakes are too high for us to leave any one of those opportunities on the table. I know we can do it, and without taking anything for granted I know we’ll put in the work.
There’s even reason for optimism. When I was elected Chair, I spoke with people about the importance of building organization. I spoke about my desire to improve Stratford, to see more people involved, and to win. We’ve been doing that. Janice has been doing great with our messaging and communication. Elaine has been a champ with helping us build and maintain a warchest. Karen is improving our campaigning with better methods and metrics. Kara is updating our records to improve our transparency. Immacula has been community-outreaching like it’s her job. We’ve got District Leaders and our District Committees are really coming online. We’ve got new people stepping up internally, new people looking to join, and we’re making people pay attention.
But amidst the highs and lows of 2020, All I keep thinking is “This is Round 1 for Stratford”
- When I hear people still struggling with how they’re going to pay their new tax increases that some council people tell us we should be happy about, and
- When I see the vacant lot where we once had a theater, and
- When I drive past the Army Engine plant and know just how much cost, work, and opportunity is tied up in that one parcel, and
- When I see developers submitting plans for developing our town in ways that no residents want to see come to light, and
- When I see we have a Trump parade giddily making their way through town on the same weekend a Stratford Police Sargent is calling Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization…
I know that 2020 is the most important election of our lives, but it’s the first round in a long and important path that we’re just getting started here in Stratford. We can’t take our eyes off the ball, and for the next 8 weeks…yes, that’s it…is our time to make or break 2020. All hands on deck, we all need to be pulling on this one.
And when November 4th comes around, while hopefully we’re picking up champagne corks, we need to get ready to fight for Stratford in 2021.
Steve Taccogna
Chairman
Stratford Democratic Town Committee
