One of our candidates for county commission, Ted Barratt, told a group of our House District chairs recently that his grandfather had told him that he could only complain about the government if he went out and voted. That was the price of admission for being able to complain.

I'm going to extend that further. If you are a Democrat, or even any type of voter, who complains about government but doesn't get involved, then the way things happen actually is partly your fault as well. Instead of complaining and whining, we need to get involved. We need to change things for the better.

The Utah County Democratic Party welcomes your involvement. If you have computer skills, we can use you. If you like to talk to people door to door or over the phone, we'd love to have you help. If you do professional photography or have experience with graphic design or video production or like to organize events, we need you to join us. And if you can't do any of those things, we would appreciate your financial donation.

Even though the election is five months away, the county party is gearing up for it. Our various committees are working to help our candidates win.  There is much to do, and every person who is willing is needed to do it.

So, don't adopt the defeatist attitude that it just doesn't make any difference. The Utah County Democratic Party isn't about sitting around whining about what can't be done. We're devoted to getting it done.

The performance of our candidates last time proves that. We earned a double digit increase in the percentage of people in Utah County who voted for a Democratic party candidate. This year our goal is to go further and win. We can do it. Look at the wonderful people we have running this year! They believe they can win and are willing to make the sacrifice to run. Let's support them.

Some people just point to the fact that we didn't win any seats last time, even though it was the first time Democrats have tried hard to do so in a long time. They say it must be hopeless if you got all those good candidates in 2008 and they didn't win.

I don't see it that way at all. It takes time to build a political party and finally achieve victory. Bill Clinton lost the first election he contested. Barack Obama lost his race for Congress. Ronald Reagan ran for president three times over 12 years before he won. Cal Rampton ran for several races and lost them all before he won the governorship in 1964. Teddy Kennedy fought for health care reform throughout his 45 years in the Senate. He didn't live to see it passed, but it did pass. There must have been alot of frustrating times in those years when many people told them that they couldn't win. Fortunately, they didn't give up after the first try and neither are we!

Positive improvement doesn't happen over night. We need to work at it. Join the team and help us change Utah politics and policy for the better. Help us make a better government -- one that works for all of us.

Go to the "get involved" link at the top of this page and then click on "volunteer." Make a difference for yourself and for your children.