BIG ENDORSEMENT: Our Revolution Maryland
Hiruy Hadgu
I have big news! Today, I was endorsed by Our Revolution Maryland!
One of the biggest accomplishments of Senator Bernie Sanders' run for office in addition to raising the political consciousness of millions of young people was the creation of Our Revolution - a grass-roots organization with three goals:
To revitalize American democracy,
Empower progressive leaders, and
Elevate political consciousness.
Many know that I got involved in local activism after the 2016 elections. I chose to channel my disappointment and anger into community activism in the wake of a dark era.
Through the course of the last year, I met wonderful people who entered activism under the same exact circumstances. The Howard County branch of Our Revolution is comprised of those determined individuals who care for the environment, education, health care, opportunity, and want government to work for everybody; not just the well connected.
Throughout this time I have been thinking about the reasons for the paralysis and polarization in our political system.
Perhaps the biggest reason is special interest influence. Special interest contribution weakens our democracy and decreases trust in government. That is why Senator Sanders shunned special interest contributions.
In Howard County, the biggest special interest are developers and I am not accepting their contributions.
For far too long, we have also mistaken platitudes for concrete policy positions. Candidates do this all the time. They will say "education is very important to me", without stating what exactly they plan to do about it. This, I think, is another cause of our current political system.
My campaign has developed a four-point platform called "the preferred future" that calls for increased accountability, better planning, government reforms, and opportunities. These plans are county-specific. Read about them here.
I feel truly honored by this endorsement. It is yet another validation that my campaign for county council is about regular citizens; not special interests.
My deepest gratitude goes to the members of Our Revolution Maryland and Howard County, who have put their faith in me to effect local changes by breaking developer influence in county government.