Friday, August 10, 2007

When Political Parties Apologize, You Win

A while back I posted a little something about my experience calling the Democratic Party of NM office. In the highly probable case that you missed it, you can click the link or simply read the Executive Summary: it was a bad experience.

Well, yesterday I received the following as a comment to that blog posting. I paste it here in toto, as it was a comment and not a direct email to me. To wit....

***********************************
Dear Frannyzoo,

I am sorry for the delay in posting this comment. I would have preferred to be timelier, but your post was only recently brought to my attention.

Please let me provide an unequivocal apology. My name is Brian Colon and I am chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and the behavior you described on your post is 100% unacceptable. Indeed the response you received to your inquiry was all the negative things you said it was.

That being said, I am confident you spoke to a volunteer who was trying to invest time in the Party in order to be helpful. Based on your post, I will be implementing a more formal policy about who answers and/or returns calls to the DPNM HQs.

Thank you for expressing your justified frustration and disappointment. We will work hard to do better in the future. If you would like to contact me directly, I would be happy to take your call.

Best regards,
Brian Colon
242-2228
brian.colon@yahoo.com
www.nmdemocrats.org
***************************************************

Now it's very simple and typical to go directly to CynicLand here, and dismiss such a reply as an empty gesture. It's hard not to do that when it comes to politics and those who practice it. At least it is for me. But I'm truly a bit encouraged right now to receive such a post. Personally, I accept Mr. Colon's apology and wonder if maybe things won't truly be handled a bit differently 'round these parts, at least in the near term future when it comes to this kind of stuff.

I know some readers may be saying to themselves: "Okay, is Scot being sarcastic?" No, I'm not. I can't say I'm heartily drinking the Democratic Party Kool-Aid or anything, but I'm just sittin' here thinkin' about what it all means, and posting the story/reply as something for y'all to contemplate as well this fine Friday.

In case you're interested, I still have that Voter Registration Change Form sitting on my desk, as yet uncompleted. I'm gonna sits and think for a spell this weekend and figure out what to do there. And no, I don' t have a clue as to why I suddenly started writing with a Southern accent this morning. I'm sure my more Jungian readers can explain that to me in some depth, and are encouraged to do so.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

First, I don't get the "I belong to a group therefore I agree with everything they do" position that you are taking. How is a group/party going to change, unless there are members who seek a change within said group? If you are part of a team you can't sit on the sidelines criticizing, if you aren't willing to get in the game. I say if your navel is clean, get in there and give 110% and here's a pat on the butt for encouragement.
Secondly, both major parties love that you're a member of the Green party and I suspect you got an apology only because you seemed interested in joining the Dem's in your original blog, or that they feared you might convince others to quit the party as a result of your post.
Lastly, a vote for Nader WAS a vote for Nader.

Anonymous said...

Petunia could win against cordova! Go for it!

NB said...

Maybe it's because something like this makes you wanna say, "Well, I'll be dag-gummed!" or "Shazam!" or "Git R' Done!" or "Dang Me!" and other things like that.
Ya'll just needs to sits on this here for abits and think upon it.
If I know what you mean, you know what I mean?
I mean... who puts their name and phone number in a comment?
That kind of courage (or somethin') makes ya'll wantin' to believe it's the dagburn truth!

Kelsey Atherton said...

well, best of luck, wherever the winds of political identity take you. It's an inevitable frustration, and the choice to me seems to be outside a community you dislike, or part of a community you dislike. At least within the community, you can commiserate, and it seems like a worthwhile effort was put into offering a more welcoming hand.

Of course, by joining, you lose a haughty superiority. And now, enough of fickle college freshmen trying to influence you.

ched macquigg said...

I've got to agree with Natalie;
A name and a phone number is not inconsequential, and speaks volumes on credibility.