My journey to becoming a voting member of the Wisconsin GOP started on election day in 2008, though I didn’t realize where I was going at first.  Neither my husband nor I were happy to see Obama win the election.  But as the democrats liked to point out, we were in the 48%.

I was determined to give him a fair shake though, because his acceptance speech that November night seemed like he would be an inclusive president.  Then I watched how he acted through the first 6 months of 2009.  It became obvious very fast that he was going to implement his leftist agenda and screw anyone who didn’t think like him.  Arguing with the Obama supporters on various websites did nothing to change their minds and only left me frustrated and fuming.

 I had been reading Red State since the summer of 2008 but only joined around September of last year.   During my time reading the site, I ran across several posts from Cold Warrior talking about becoming a precinct committeeman.  I was surprised to hear that only about 50% of the available slots were filled across the entire US.  It seemed everyone I knew liked to complain about politics but many were not willing to step up and do something for whatever reason. 

I have to admit it took me a couple of months to decide to take the plunge.  I’m involved in a few other organizations and was concerned about spreading myself too thin.  Having never been actively involved besides arguing politics on the internet, I had no idea how the system in Wisconsin worked.  I checked out the state GOP website but could not find any information about becoming a precinct committeeman.

Finally in January this year, I looked at my husband in the middle of another gripe session about Obama and told him we were going to join the county GOP group.  I pulled up their site online, grabbed his credit card and we joined at the family rate.   We immediately began receiving information about meetings and events.  It was surprising how many events were going on around our county. 

We chose an event to go to called Pints and Politics to get our feet (and throats) wet.  We were immediately welcomed and met the district leader for our section of the county that evening.  She informed us we were already on the rolls as voting members.  That’s how easy it was for us.

Since then we have attended our county caucus and our congressional district caucus.  At every meeting and event we attend, we get the opportunity to hear from candidates for local and state offices.  In May we will attend the state convention and vote on endorsements for those offices.   I have also signed up to work on the campaigns for two of the candidates.  It feels wonderful to know we are now in the fight to take back our country. 

I owe Cold Warrior a huge thank you for his tireless efforts encouraging all of us to get involved.  He kept reminding me through his posts that you have to take actions to make change happen.  If you are thinking of taking the leap, and getting involved, go for it!  The opportunity to shape the upcoming battles will give you a sense of accomplishment and (dare I use the words?) hope for positive change in the future.