My name is Matt Wall and I am a senior at BU. Right now there are four democratic candidates vying for the open Senate seat, and after Dec. 8, there will only be one. I want to talk to you about who I think should win this election and why. I am supporting Alan Khazei, because I think that as a senator, Alan Khazei will use his experience and skills to bring real change to Washington, D.C. As some may know, Alan Khazei is the cofounder of City Year, an organization that started in Boston which puts young people into service around the city. In 1993, President Bill Clinton modeled AmeriCorps, the domestic Peace Corps, in part on the model Khazei created with City Year. Khazei has had over 20 years of experience working to serve America, and has been active in a variety of social and political movements. In 2003, he orchestrated a dramatic 100 hours of testimony to congress to prevent Tom Delay’s Republicans from defunding AmeriCorps. During the peak of Republican power, Khazei not only secured the funding, but managed to get $100 million added to the AmeriCorps budget for the following year.
Alan Khazei’s campaign is based on his philosophy of Big Citizenship. It’s the idea that change doesn’t happen unless citizens make it happen. Using his experience as an organizer of movements, Khazei wants to bring the people into the legislative process and use his contacts with social and political movements to make sure real change gets through in Washington, D.C. Khazei believes that no matter how good the politician, if the people do not support the policy, it is near impossible for change to happen. And if the special interests are against a policy, it is vital for the citizens to stand up and be heard. He doesn’t accept money from special interests through Political Action Committees (PACs) or lobbyists. His campaign is entirely citizen-funded, and it is geared toward the grassroots because Khazei decided that he had better take his appeal directly to the people through direct voter outreach.
Momentum is on Khazei’s side. Recently he moved more than eight points in the polls and has scored the endorsements of The Boston Globe, Ret. General Wes Clark and popular Massachusetts blog Blue Mass Group. For the next five days, the campaign needs volunteers to make sure that it makes it through the finish line.
If you are interested in getting involved, there are a variety of things you can do. You can work at the phone bank, canvass anywhere in Boston or help out on election day, on Dec. 8.
If you are interested, email mattwall@bu.edu. Thank you!
Matt Wall
CAS 2010
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