Liam Madden Colors Outside the Lines
Given the current state of political discourse, we might be excused for thinking: “Why vote? It only encourages them.” The two major political parties continually urge us to live in a polarized society, listening only to our preferred echo chamber. Both political parties – governments-in-waiting – ask us to cleave to them for fear of the other, expecting us to value party unity and discipline, often at much too high a price to our consciences and our communities. Fear and uncertainty, unfortunately, are what they appeal to – and depend upon – for their survival. We should stop responding to such calls.
Given this situation, I am altogether amazed and thankful that Liam Madden has made himself a candidate for Congress. He calls us to reach out to one another in an effort to build something different and better. Liam recognizes that the current system is broken – something we all know and feel in our hearts, I believe. He dares to propose that new (or perhaps older) ways of doing things are what will save us.
He colors outside the red and blue party lines and invites us to join him in doing that.
We cannot wait for “the next big thing” for help. Instead, we must build and re-build “a lot of small things” that we do ourselves. Clearly, it is not to the large, wealthy political parties and those beholden to them – nor those to whom they are beholden – that we can look for solutions. The communities we live in belong to us. The state we live in is ours. And, yes, “this land is our land.” Liam Madden’s candidacy offers us an opportunity to work together to “rebirth democracy,” as he puts it.
Often candidates display lists of their qualities on election banners, such as “leadership,” “courage,” and “vision.” Liam is someone, as more and more people are recognizing, who embodies these qualities.
He has chosen his positions thoughtfully and deliberately, and they have the virtue of defying clear party-line identification, as does he.
In the tradition of independent Vermont thinkers and leaders, he is the kind of person around whom we can gather and with whom we can hope to work in times like these.
His website is here: https://rebirthdemocracy.com/
The VT Digger profile of his positions is here: https://vtdigger.org/vtdigger-2022-election-guide/2022-election-candidate/?candidate_id=liam-madden
The short and inspiring biography of him on his website ends as follows:
“If you are satisfied changing the players, you have plenty of good options this election. If you know in your heart that we must change the rules of the game, you have one clear choice. Send me to Congress. Let’s rebirth democracy together.”
He is just what we have been looking for – both here and nationally – in a candidate for higher office. He makes me want to vote (and more).
Ken Smith
Brighton
