Since the polls closed last week, I have been sensing a growing urgency from area Democrats to make substantive changes to how our party operates here in Butler County.  Many people have spoken up and spoken out about what is broken.  They have cried foul about areas where progress should have been made.  They have mentioned cronyism with levels of venom reserved for John Boehner.

One of our greatest opportunities lies with our ability to re-form and reform the party every four years.  We should be ready to throw out what hasn't worked and build on what has worked well.  We should identify progressive leaders in our community and ask for their help.  We should work with each other's inherent strengths.  We should be a party based on the hopeful optimism that we can and will create a better community for our peers.

We should not begin anew with division in our hearts.  Our peers did not elect us to grab power or to weaken our foundation.  They put their trust in us to lead, advise and make decisions based on the greater good.  Historically important and impactful leaders did not practice division -- they were about inclusion.  Their pulpit wasn't anger -- it was hope.  They understood that anger only perpetuates and amplifies anger.

Being a newbie to the process, perhaps my optimism is foolish.  However, I hope that we can collectively take a queue from some of the great leaders of the past -- Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, John Kennedy -- and be a foundation of positivity for our community. 

Cynicism is a lousy running mate.