One of the true battlegrounds that Progressives should be focusing on is Brooklyn. But I often feel that the grassroots have been awfully lazy in Brooklyn. In 2005 I was briefly mistaken for a troll because of a piece I wrote expressing considerable frustration at progressives for dropping the ball, at least in NYC. You see, I am heavily involved in local politics, often getting to meet candidates one-on-one, and I find that contrary to the impression many have regarding the Democratic Party, we have some of the best candidates you can imagine. Problem is, they don't get past the primaries because big money and political machines oppose them, and the grassroots tends to be a bit lazy.

But I am finding evidence that in 2006, the Brooklyn Grassroots are doing fine. My one fear is that 2006 will be the year of hard work for Brooklyn progressives and yet they will still lose to the local political machine and to the candidates that get huge piles of money from big business.