Sorensen Institute - a jewel for Virginia

We are dedicated at Blue Commonwealth (and also, I add, at RK) to electing Virginia Democrats.  I have no problems with that.  Our reasons for that dedication is not merely a question of party loyalty, but also because we believe we offer the best policies on behalf of the Commonwealth.  And it is on behalf of the Commonwealth that I write this post, which I recognize may not be universally accepted.

Yesterday I "graduated" from the Political Leaders Program, the flagship program of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at UVa.  I want to use that occasion as an excuse for this piece, which will be in part reflection and in part analysis and advocacy.

I invite you to keep reading.
Perhaps I am shaped by my age, now 62, and having lived through and participated at least somewhat in the Civil Rights movement.  One thing that was very march a part of the ethos of that movement was learning how to disagree without being disagreeable.  Those who put themselves at risk of arrests and beatings and worse quickly recognized that unless they maintained a calm, a willingness to assert on behalf of rights without baiting or attacking those who sought to deny the rights they would lose the war as well as the individual battles -  so much of what influenced the larger public was the willingness to accept blows without lashing back.

And perhaps it is because I have been around politics long enough to recognize that the person who is one's enemy on today's issue could well be a key ally on tomorrow's.  In politics it is hard to identify any permanent allies or enemies - if we recognize that, perhaps we will be better able to differentiate between persons and policies, and not engage in the kind of politics in which we wage war with the intent of the personal destruction of those on the other side.  After all, we don't like it when it is directed at us or those we support, and should we return equivalent fire we might wake up and realize that we have become Pogo looking out across the devastation of the Swamp and saying "We have met the enemy, and he is us."  We do not want to be the American officer in Vietnam announcing that in order to save the village we had to destroy it.

My classmates at Sorensen - all of whom I now consider friends, even family - range from the political director of Brian Moran's gubernatorial effort to a top staffer for Thelma Drake.  We have elected public officials from Powhatan County, Virginia Beach, and a newly elected city council member in Lexington.  We ranged from Bristol to Nova, and many other points of the Dominion.  We ranged in age from our twenties to our sixties.  And over the ten months of our program we were at least invited to grow out of our comfort zones.  Perhaps we participated in our Saturday morning debates, where we were challenged to argue a point of view we would normally oppose:  I did it twice, getting the task of defending crackdowns on illegal immigrants and arguing in favor of the death penalty.   Taking on such a task, if one does so fully, requires you to get into the mindset of someone else, to recognize that on many issues it is possible for people of good will to strongly disagree on fundamental issues.  There are usually intellectually and morally honest arguments on both sides of most issues.  What we advocate for in our politics is a point a view, shaped perhaps by our own life experiences and/or our personal or political philosophies.   But those experiences and philosophies are not universal, and thus we should expect opposition from those shaped by difference experiences or adhering to different philosophies.  That neither guarantees our superiority nor does it indicate that they are somehow deficient.  

I encourage people who read this to consider the possibility of participating in Sorensen.  Besides the PLP in which I participated, there are programs for High School Leaders, for College Leaders, for leaders from Southside, and even a Candidate Training program.

At our gala this year, all of the living Virginia Governors came to honor Linwood Holton.  Senator John Warner also spoke.  That gives some indication of th respect in which Sorensen is held around the Commonwealth.

And consider that some of the alumni of the various programs include such partisan Democrats as Larry Roberts (campaign manager for and Counsel to Goernro Kaine), Conaway Haskins (Assistant State Director for Senator Webb, formerly a wellknown Virginia blogger), State Delegate Jennifer McClellan, Delegate Shannon Valentine, Delegate Margie Vanderhye, etc.  Among the notable Democrats who serve on the state or regional boards (and whom I have not already mentioned) are the like of Connie Brennan,  Kenny Alexander, Kate Hanley (who was chairman of the panel that interviewed me a year ago, and who addressed our class), and Jody Wagner (herself a graduate, and who addressed us).  Yes, there are of course also prominent Republicans who are graduates or on the board -  John Warner is the honorary chairman, and Henry Hager is on the state board,  Chris Peace is a PLP graduate, and so on.

Here's my bottom line.  If you care about the Commonwealth and its well-being, perhaps you should consider participating in Sorensen.  While it is too late to file for the 2009 class of Political Leaders, it is never too early to begin thinking about the program.  And those of you who have not seen your wealth significantly decline during the recent downturn might perhaps consider a contribution?  

I am proud of our class.  We became the first PLP cohort to have 100% of us contribute to a class gift.  And we have a set a precedent with a decision we made a month ago, that we would combine our reuning with one another with service.  At the instigation of tour of our members, in July we all hope to go to the Wise County Fairgrounds to help with the Remote Area Medical event which for many in that region is their only source of medical and dental treatment.  You can read about that either in this Washington Post Magazine piece or in the Daily Kos diary I did about it

Don't worry.  I remain dedicated to the idea of turning Virginia even more completely Blue.  But first and foremost I want my activities to be of benefit to the Commonwealth as a whole.  Thus I remain committed to Sorensen.

Peace.

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