Crossing Party Lines

(There's not an article, but I just attended a meeting which most people wouldn't ever expect to see me at...)

So, a few of us decided to "crash" the Young Republicans meeting this afternoon. (Thanks for the idea, Sam!) I walked in with Will Reichardt and Sam Anthonijs, and everything was going crazy--apparently they were watching the fight outside. Soon after, Allie Mueller and Sam Tang walked in. Cody Kallin, their president, was kind of yelling at us and everything was still a bit crazy. We were told we could sit down and listen to the meeting or leave, so the five of us sat. Cody started the meeting by talking about what the Republicans were planning on doing; local elections, etc. We then moved on to possible nonpartisan events we could plan, and the group actually had a civil discussion about politics. We decided we would plan our own events and meetings, and also plan nonpartisan events and meetings. It was agreed on that, together, our clubs would promote political participation and reaching across party lines.

I'm pretty excited about what happened this afternoon. I went in there not knowing what to expect; essentially thinking we would walk in, Cody would get pissed, and we would leave. I was surprised when we were invited to sit down, and even more shocked when we actually had a civil discussion. I'm glad we ended up agreeing to work together instead of against each other. I think it's going to be a great example to the rest of the school that, yes, we can join together and get along because, despite party affiliation, we're all Americans and want what's best for our community & country. Hopefully more people will join the combined group as a nonpartisan thing, especially after seeing or hearing about the service projects we'll be doing.

Overall, this whole idea went extremely well, considering it started as a bit of a joke. Thanks, Sam, for a great idea, and thanks to all of you who showed up! (Not that you read this blog, but whatever.)

PS-I'm going to take this opportunity to enjoy the fact that 5 of us showed up, while 3 Republicans were there. Yay Young Liberals! =)