IT'S TIME TO CHANGE OUR PRIMARY FOCUS A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME

It's interesting to hear many of my fellow Democrats, whenever we talk about issues, simply ignore what's happening in our own backyard while focusing mainly about the latest issues on the national level. Iraq, the economy, gas prices, and the latest GOP scandal are usually the subjects I see and hear whenever I open the latest e-mail or get into a political conversation at a meeting.

Those are certainly important subjects that deserve to be discussed, but it bothers me greatly that my fellow Democratic activists simply remain silent when it comes to issues such as the current insurance crisis, controlling development, creating more affordable housing for low and moderate income families, health care, and schools. I'm sure many people have opinions about those subjects, but many apparantly don't see them as issues which are worth talking about compared to the bigger headline items that come from Washington.

It is imperative that we as Democrats on the local level change our mind-set and begin concentrating more on discussing and sharing with our constituents where we stand on back yard items. City and county government is not only where we find our bench for future legislators and congressional representatives, but also --- to use the words of University of South Florida Professor Susan McManus --- "Historically, most of the great ideas about new policies have always come from the bottom up. The state and local governments have always been the labatories of democracy."