I crashed the Latino Democrats of Prince Goerge’s County U.S. Senate Candidate Forum, with some success
I had tried engaging the Latino Democrats of Prince George’s County U.S. Senate Candidate Forum organizers. I sent three messages on November 2 and heard nothing back. I sent a follow-up on November 14 and heard back two days later, telling me I would not be allowed to participate. I pushed back on the on the same basic principles of democracy and openness as outlined in my statement released yesterday to condemn and reconsider the barriers to participation as well as the decision of Latino Democrats of Prince George’s County to stick with them. We did have something of a polite back-and-forth but they did not respond to any of the merits or my arguments and were non-responsive to my last few attempts at persuasion.
So what did I do? I went to the event. I tried to politely engage one of the organizers who was rude and dismissive and did not even introduce herself. So I went to the local press at the event, they were willing to hear me out (many thanks to Megan Clarke of 7 News DC for interviewing me on video and featuring me in the write-up!). You can see and read about me here! There is also a second clip featuring me here at around 3:30 if you select “latest news broadcast.”
Yesterday was an inspiring example of how you can buck the system even in the face of those working to exclude: my voice was still heard on key issues and I am in touch with at least one of the candidates who were on stage yesterday to start coordinating efforts towards opening up these events to more candidates and to have more of them. The people deserve to actually have candidates engage with the voters and each other, not to just have a few forums with just a few candidates. The election is over six months away, so let my voice and others be heard and be part of the process! There may come a time to whittle the field down and limit who can participate in events, but that time is not yet. The Maryland Democrat Party and Latino Democrats of Prince George’s County need to be more open, transparent, fair, and Democratic (big and small d!) at this early stage of the contest.
Contact your state and local party officials to let them know you want my voice to be included!