Feb 16, 2009: In an age where the media screams at us to believe this, not that and political campaigns consist mainly of fear tactics, a group called ‘More Than A Vote‘ is forming a new kind of political community.
Their philosophy says that casting your vote on election day is only the beginning. The real work begins after the elections are held. The current state of corporate politicians needs to be dismantled. In it’s place, a system that better reflects the intentions of our forefathers. Of the people, by the people, for the people.
One of the more difficult hurdles to clear is getting people to realize that there is more to the political process than simple politics. On their website and in quarterly rallies, the group will tackle a variety of topics that affect us all. Their first topic was jobs at a rally held at Maxwell’s in Hoboken on Feb 16.
The best way for people to have an open discussion about even the heaviest of subjects is to keep the atmosphere light. You laugh, maybe you dance and you lower the guard that’s been built by TV evangelists and corporate lobbyists. You get to the heart of the matter without breaking anyone’s heart.
‘More Than A Vote’ was able to do this by including booze and great music. The walls were adorned with blown-up classified ads as the bands and guest speakers took the stage. Amid the festivities, networking happened. Business cards were traded. Questions were asked. Answers were given.
The music portion of the rally kicked was off by the evening’s organizer and jazz vocalist Jennifer Lampert with hat set of juiced -up standards. Julian Peterson came up next with his energetic, soulful blues infused rock.
Local favorite—and no stranger to the local political machine—Dave Calamoneri along with The Train Wreck, treated the crowd to his own brand of down-to-earth folk rock. One of the cars from that train continued to roll as keyboardist Jeremy Beck closed the night with a high-octane set of jams.
The lesson taken away form the night is this; if you want to change this country, change it. You need to do more than ask someone else to represent you. Those representatives are fallible humans who, from time to time, need to kick in the ass. You need to do the kicking.
See Also:
More Than A Vote
Maxwell’s
Jennifer Lampert
Julian Peterson
Dave Calamoneri
Jeremy Beck
