I don't really have this whole "advocate'' thing down yet.
Today I went to a press conference where the League of Women Voters, for whom I also do a blog, participated.
I suppose my role was to lead the cheers for the member-item-reform bill they were pushing, but of course I did not.
I asked skeptical questions. Why would this pass this year when similar bills have regularly been shot down? How can you persuade Democrats to give more money to Republicans, at their own expense? Are lawmakers really serious about using taxpayer money for pet projects when the state has a yawning ($9 billion) budget gap?
Then when a bunch of good-government lobbyists, including the league's, went later in the day to meet with a legislator about a bill they were pushing, I had no inclination to go along. I can't imagine sitting in on something like that and not hoping for some juicy misstep I could write about or trying to persuade him of the rightness of our cause. So I stayed away.
The column I do for another web site, NYSNYS.COM, gives me a journalistic outlet, and my role with the league as I see it is to keep its members informed about what is going on at the Capitol. So far, I can't see myself as an advocate.
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so good to know that you are doing so much! And there we thought that you were just sitting around being sick. Hardly! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteJay, remind me to warn Robb Smith not to invite you along on the Interfaith Impact lobby day on April 12th! Seriously, though, you or anyone else is welcome. I generally enjoy these lobby days, but I tend to keep my mouth shut (hard to believe, I know!) because I don't feel I have the expertise to speak up on most of the issues. I did make some points at the arts lobby day recently, though.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your wonderful test results - that's great news!