The attention to polling pulls a neat trick on us insofar as it treats the popularity of certain politicians or policy notions as outside of our control, and to a degree, outside all control. It's just the way the wind is blowing, and you can fight it and lose or accept it and win. Maybe. Except when we don't win. Either way, the consultants and technocrats win because we've put them in charge of telling us what's possible.

Politics should be a verb. It's something you *do* because it has a daily impact on your life. Believe that Medicare for All is the best way to address our current healthcare crisis? Organize with like-minded people to get out there and tell folks about it. Persuade them. Think we need a middle step in order to grease the wheels in the form of a public option? I disagree, but still want to see you out there arguing about it and trying to build numbers. Don't let the reason for supporting one or another be that our neighbors and colleagues and fellow citizens have an ambiguously-sourced preference and it's just up to us to accept it. They're just other versions of us, trying to identify and support politics that will address our mutual material needs and move us toward a world where everybody benefits from a better allocation of the wealth and resources that all working people have helped to create.

Cards on the table - this is a big part of why I'm a socialist. I'm not good at political theory and even worse at pretending to be interested in triangulating poll data to find the perfect synthesis of voters' policy, rhetorical, and demographic preferences.

I'm a hog, like every other American, who wants to express my political desire in terms of *desire* because that's the only honest way to do it. To me, that means expecting that my work and the wealth that it creates will allow me to live in stability and basic comfort and furthermore, expecting that I probably have this in common with more people than not. I want the relatively easy life I grew up with - a stable home, food security, medical care, and a quality school - to be available to every American.

So I joined Democratic Socialists of America. I'm a pretty lazy member, donating money when I have it and attending demonstrations and campaigns in between my four (!) jobs. But I wanted my political views to be something that I could fight for and not something that just means shrugging and waiting for more people to agree with me. And I'm deeply grateful that DSA isn't just sitting around and acting like a jobs program for political consultants who just want to test the wind and tailor their message. The more involved members get out there and fight for what they want and try to grow their numbers because they don't just want to be heard, they want to WIN.