I commend your effort.
Similar to
pmclaine, I became involved in understanding the "political machine" from the local level all up the way to the State Legislature. I was the guy who went to the town hall meetings when there were 4 - 5 people there, on a good turn out night. I remember one short conversation vividly with a Legislator I had become friends with. I told him "Every time the State legislature finishes their session, I lose a little bit more of my freedom". His reply was "The Representatives and Senators are elected to
legislate"...... More legislation = Less Freedom. He invited me to be his guest and sit with him during the current session of the legislature. Through out this learning process I communicated with other State Senators. They turned a deaf ear to my concerns. I found it unusual that a State Senator could introduce a bill that would have an impact on every human being in that State but they were unwilling to listen to the very person the bill would impact. This"lesson" spanned about 5 years of my life. I remember very, very well talking to someone running for State Representative. At the time she was young, Liberal and was pushing for the State to furnish child care for parents working a minimum wage job. I explained to her that her constituents were "The Shopper's of Walmart". In the long run the people working the higher paying jobs were being taxed to pay for child care. In conversation I called her "Pollyanna"... She was always welcoming when I visited her office in the Capitol. She had a big bowl of free candy and I would always show up with a big bag of candy for her bowl.
For the past 20 years "The Shopper's of Walmart" have kept her in office. And we all know the conditions in the State of Oregon.
The lesson I learned was time / resources wasted on politics could be better spent elsewhere.
Sara Gelser Blouin is an American politician from Oregon. She is a member of the Democratic Party.Since 2015, she has been a member of the Oregon State Senate from District 8. From 2005 to 2015, she served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 16, representing Corvallis and Philomath. Wikipedia
Born: 1973 (age 50 years), Las Vegas, NV
Party: Democratic Party
Education: Oregon State University, Earlham College
Office: Oregon State Senator since 2015
en.wikipedia.org